Malnutrition
Malnutrition remains a significant challenge.
In 2022, 2.5 billion adults were overweight and 390 million underweight, while nearly half of under-5 deaths were linked to undernutrition. Malnutrition now spans stunting, micronutrient deficiencies, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases—posing serious threats to health systems and development.
Insights
Political: The United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016–2025) provides a policy framework, yet many countries lack coherent implementation to address both undernutrition and obesity.
Economic: Malnutrition drives up health care costs and reduces productivity, especially where food insecurity intersects with diet-related NCDs.
Social: Women, infants, and adolescents are especially vulnerable. The first 1,000 days of life remain a critical window for intervention but are still missed in many settings.
Technological: Digital nutrition surveillance, food fortification innovations, and scalable e-health platforms remain underleveraged to combat all forms of malnutrition.
Legal: Trade and investment policies often contradict nutrition goals, with few legal safeguards to regulate marketing of unhealthy foods or ensure food security.
Environmental: Climate change exacerbates food system instability, affecting access to diverse and nutritious diets and increasing vulnerability to both under- and overnutrition.
Reflective Questions
How might we reimagine food systems to deliver both nutrition security and climate resilience?
What policies could simultaneously tackle obesity, stunting, and micronutrient deficiencies in both high- and low-income settings?
How can innovations in agriculture, education and primary health care converge to break the cycle of malnutrition and poverty?
Related Insight Cards
References:
World Health Organization, 2024. Malnutrition. Geneva: World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malnutrition
