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%.