Nearly half the global population suffers from poor diets, report says

Almost half of the world’s population is suffering from poor nutrition, whether it be too much or not enough food, according to the Global Nutrition Report (GNR) released on Tuesday.

The yearly survey on the latest data on nutrition and related health issues found that 48 percent of people currently eat either too much or too little, resulting in them being overweight or underweight.

At current rates, the world will fail to meet eight out of nine nutrition targets set by the World Health Organization for 2025, the report says.

These include reducing child wasting (being too thin for the height), and child stunting (being too short for the age), in addition to adult obesity.

According to the GNR’s estimates, nearly 150 million children under the age of 5 are stunted, while more than 45 million are waster and nearly 40 million are overweight.

“Our global findings show that our diets have not improved over the last ten years and are now a major threat to people’s health and to the planet.” Chair of the GNR’s Independent Expert Group Renata Micha told AFP.

This year’s GNR is the first to take a look at global diets and how food choices affect both people and the planet.

People are failing to eat healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables, especially in low-income countries.

While high-income countries have the highest intake of harmful foods such as red meat and dairy.

The report also notes that consumption of harmful foods is on the rise.

Additionally, the GNR found that global food demand generated some 35 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.

The report called for urgent funding to improve nutrition across the globe, particularly as Covid-19 pushed an estimated additional 155 million people into extreme poverty.