Far too many of the world’s youngsters are overweight

TWENTY YEARS ago UNICEF, the United Nations’ children's agency, took a detailed look at the diet of the world’s youngsters. The story was grim: malnutrition contributed to more than half of all child deaths. The picture has since changed, in many ways for the better. Rising incomes have lifted millions out of poverty; since 1990 the burden of hunger has been cut by two-thirds. UNICEF’s latest deep dive into the state of children’s nutrition is again disturbing, but for a different reason. Children are getting either too little of the food they need, or too much of the food they do not.

The number of overweight adolescents is particularly shocking. Since the 1970s there has been a 10- to 12-fold rise in obesity among those aged 10 to 19. In poor countries, it is the relatively well-off who tend to suffer. In rich ones, it is often poorer children who carry excessive weight. In America, for example, nearly one in five youngsters in low-income households are obese, compared with just one in ten in high-income ones. Low- and middle-income countries are catching up with their richer counterparts. Disturbingly, even the youngest are affected. Since 2000, the number of overweight children under five around the world has increased by 44%.

Ballooning waistlines are often blamed on the shift towards modern diets, urbanisation and falling levels of physical activity. Economics matters, too. In many countries, the unhealthiest and most fattening foods are also the cheapest. And obesity, in turn, imposes an economic cost. Countries with lots of overweight children can expect lower levels of productivity, higher mortality and higher health-care spending on treating the maladies that come with excessive weight, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Along with children who get too many of the wrong calories, there are still those who suffer from conventional malnourishment, including children who are “stunted” (meaning they are unusually short for their age) and “wasted” (they weigh too little for their height). Then there are those who suffer from “hidden hunger” a deficiency of vitamins and other essential nutrients. Iron deficiency, for example, reduces a child's ability to learn.

In total, UNICEF reckons that nearly one in three school-aged children aged five to 19 is overweight (18%) or underweight (11%). The world has much work to do to ensure that its children both eat well and eat healthily.