The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has recently reported that obesity has surpassed underweight as the more prevalent form of malnutrition, affecting 1 in 10, or an estimated 188 million school-aged children and adolescents worldwide.
The new study was based on data from over 190 countries, which showed that while underweight children aged five to 19 have declined since 2000 from 13 percent to 9.2 percent, the obesity rates have increased from 3 percent to 9.4 percent.
The spike in obesity was attributed to the exposure of children to widespread ultra-processed foods.
Obesity now exceeds underweight in all regions of the world with the highest prevalence in several Pacific Island countries and lowest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The report added that many high-income countries continue to have high levels of obesity.
Children are considered overweight when they are significantly heavier than what is healthy for their age, sex, and height. Obesity is a severe form of overweight and leads to a higher risk of developing insulin resistance and high blood pressure, as well as life-threatening diseases later in life, including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.
UNICEF reports that ultra-processed and fast food high in sugar, refined starch, salt, unhealthy fats, and additives are shaping children’s diets through unhealthy food environments. These products dominate schools and shops, while digital marketing gives the food and beverage industry powerful access to young audiences.
According to the study, even in conflict-affected countries, 68 percent of young people said they were exposed to such advertisements.
Although we may have associated malnutrition with wasting and being underweight, the challenges of ensuring that populations get proper nutrition are now two pronged, with obesity having taken the lead among the young, as more and more children, privileged or otherwise, are exposed to unhealthy food.
Our problem now is how to limit the damage that unhealthy and ultra-processed food can do to children and adolescents, if exposure and access cannot be controlled so this type of malnutrition can be addressed.*
