According to a report in the medical journal The Lancet, more than one-third of the poorest countries in the world have to face problems of both obesity and malnutrition.
The problem of obesity is occurring due to cheap and global access to processed foods that contain a large amount of carbohydrates and fats and less exercise by the people. The experts believe that the “modern food system” is causing this problem. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are the ones that are most affected.
The report in The Lancet claims that nearly 2.3 billion children globally suffer from problems of overweight or obesity while more than 150 million children suffer from stunted growth problems. And some of the countries are suffering from both these issues where there are a lot of malnourished children as well as a huge number of obese children. This problem is called the ‘double burden of malnutrition’.
The report further gives details like 20% of people around the world are overweight, 30% of children whose age is 4 years or less are not growing properly and another 20% of women are very thin due to malnourishment.
The report claims a point which might seem very awkward that communities, families, and individuals can suffer from both forms of problems during various stages in their lives. It also states that out of 123 countries 45 countries were affected by this burden in the 1990s while 48 out of 126 countries are affected in 2010s. So, the problem seems to be consistent and is not fading away.
In fact, 14 countries most of which are from the low-income group have been added to this list.
Appropriate actions should be taken from the UN and the government to change the food habits of the people and making them more aware of the benefits of having a healthy and balanced diet.