The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have just singled out an over-industrialized food system that fails to eradicate hunger while encouraging obesity at the Second International Conference on Nutrition, which was held in Rome.
“The global food system is no longer functioning, because of its dependence on the industrialized production of ever cheaper and unhealthy food,” said Margaret Chan, director general of the WHO. “Countries around the world have the creativity to work with civil society, the scientific community and the private sector to find the right solutions,” she added.
Malnutrition: what it means
– 161 million children under 5 are too tall for their age due to chronic hunger
– 51 million children under 5 are underweight for their height due to acute hunger
– more than 2 billion people have a micronutrient deficiency (vitamin A, iodine, iron and zinc), this is called “invisible hunger”.
Obesity: what it means
– 42 million children under 5 are overweight
-more than 500 million adults suffer from obesity.
Faced with this observation, countries have pledged to take energetic measures to guarantee healthier and more sustainable diets for all. Dubbed the “Rome Declaration”, this declaration of intent commits governments to preventing malnutrition in all its forms, including hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity. As a result of this work, countries recommended that the UN General Assembly endorse the Rome Declaration and consider proclaiming a Decade of Action on Nutrition for 2016-2025.
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