Malnourished or obese: Nations need to double nutrition spending

LONDON — In a world in which one in every three people is malnourished and 1.9 billion adults are overweight or obese, nations should at least double the share of their budgets allocated to nutrition, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Governments across the world currently spend “too little” to meet the 2025 global nutrition targets that include improving maternal and child nutrition as well as halting the increase in adult overweight, obesity and diabetes, the institute said in the Global Nutrition report to be released in New York next Tuesday (Sept 22). Aid donors should also more than double their contribution.

“When one in three of us is held back, we as families, communities, and nations cannot move forward,” said Dr Lawrence Haddad, lead author of the study and senior research fellow at the IFPRI. “This not only jeopardises the lives of those who are malnourished, but also affects the larger framework for economic growth and sustainable development.”

Many countries aren’t on target to meet the 2025 nutrition goals, with none on course to achieve the overweight, obesity and diabetes targets. While 70 out of 74 nations will reach at least one of the five maternal and child nutrition goals, Kenya will probably be the only one to accomplish all. Governments spend “a tiny” part of their budgets on nutrition and the economic benefit of every US$1 (S$1.40) invested is 16 times higher, the IFPRI says.

Malnutrition is present in every country, with 794 million people estimated to be calorie-deficient. Among children aged five or less, 161 million are old too short for their age and 51 million aren’t heavy enough for their height, according to the report. Obesity increased in every country from 2010 to last year and one in every 12 adults has type 2 diabetes.

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While information on government spending on nutrition programs is scarce, preliminary data showed that 14 out of 30 countries spend on average 1.3 per cent of their budgets on investments that can increase food and nutrition security, according to the report. Most countries spend even less in nutrition-specific programs, with the share of the budget being less or equal to 0.2 per cent in 12 of 14 nations.

Aid donors that almost doubled their contribution to nutrition-specific programmes to US$940 million in 2013 from a year earlier still need to do more, the institute said. Only 16 out of 29 members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development spent more than US$1 million. Seven reported no spending at all.

“Too often, people think of malnutrition as just a problem of hungry kids in the poorest countries, but this report shows that malnutrition has many forms and affects all countries, rich and poor alike,” said Dr Corinna Hawkes, co-author of the report. “The coexistence of nutritional problems associated with extreme deprivation and obesity is the real face of malnutrition.” BLOOMBERG