The obesity of children is now more common than nutrition – what do we do?

For the first time, more children around the world live with obesity than undernutrition. The change indicates that infantile malnutrition has entered a new phase, the one that the world is poorly equipped to contact. Although there are proven strategies to reduce hunger, little exist to fight obesity.

“Despite years of effort to really prevent obesity, especially in children and young people, it is clear that we are not doing a big job,” explains Andrea Richardson at Rand, a non -profit research organization in California.

In a new report, Harriet Torlesse at UNICEF in Belgium and his colleagues have analyzed the nutritional state of children aged 5 to 19 using data from the collaboration of the risk factor for non -transmitted disease. This collaborative database covers more than 160 countries and territories, representing more than 90% of children worldwide.

The report revealed that, since 2000, the world’s infantile obesity rates in childhood have been tripled roughly. About 9.4% of children live today with obesity, compared to 9.2% which are undernourished – the first time that obesity has exceeded nutrition in children.

The change is largely motivated by the increase in obesity rates in low and intermediate income countries, where “more than 80% of children living with overweight and obesity in the world”, explains Torlesse. “It is no longer a high income problem. This is a problem worldwide. “

The involvement is that governments and other organizations must rethink their approach to infantile malnutrition. “You are not only looking at nutrition, you look at malnutrition in all its forms,” ​​said Shibani Ghosh at Cornell University in New York State. The problem is that we do not have an effective gaming book to combat obesity as we do for hunger.

The UNICEF report blames the increase in infantile obesity rates on the spread of ultra-transformed food. These products, manufactured with industrialized processes, contain additives and preservatives. They also tend to be rich in fats, sugars and salt – think of cookies, candies, fries and sodas. According to the report, ultra-trans food represents at least half of the calories consumed by children in Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, and about a third of people consumed by children in certain low and average income countries, including Argentina and Mexico.

Many studies have combined ultra-transformed foods with an increased risk of obesity. However, policies designed to reduce the consumption of them – many of which recommend UNICEF – rarely make a breach in obesity rates.

Consider taxes on unhealthy foods. In 2014, Mexico became the first country to tax certain foods rich in calories and sugary drinks. Sales of these products subsequently fell, especially in low -income households, but adolescent obesity rates have barely moved. In fact, they plunged only in adolescent girls, as was the case in the United Kingdom after having implemented a tax on sugary drinks in 2018.

Meanwhile, Chile has some of the most radical regulations on ultra-transformed foods. In 2016, he limited the marketing of these foods and drinks and forced calories rich in calories, sodium, saturated fats and sugar have warning labels to dissuade consumers. Obesity rates in children aged 4 to 6 years then dropped by 1 to 3 percentage points a year later – but returned to the reference base in 2018. In fact, by 2019, obesity rates had increased by 2 percentage points in those who were 14 years old, which highlights the little effect of these policies.

But Torlesse sees it differently. “There is no unique intervention that will do good,” she says. “So you see some countries making a tax on sodas, or certain countries that put food labels. All this is admirable, but unless you abandon it on all sides, we are not going to have the change we need.”

This is why the report also encourages policies that increase the availability and affordability of nutrients, such as subsidies or school lunch programs. He also highlights the importance of nutritional education and poverty reduction. “The same reasons why we see people suffering from undernutrition are almost the same reasons why we see people suffering from over-nutrition,” explains Richardson. “It is really rooted in the lack of financial resources, living in poor areas, poor access to nutritious foods and safe drinking water.”

No country has implemented all UNICEF recommendations, so it is always an open question of whether they will be sufficient for Reining in obesity. “The implicit hypothesis is that because there is an increasing consumption of unhealthy foods, overweight and obesity rates are increasing,” said Ghosh. “And that could be part of the explanation.”

But there are probably additional engines, such as stress, pollution and even genetic changes.

“We really have to see this as a major holistic urgency in public health,” explains Richardson. “Our children are our future. They should all be healthy. If our children do not thrive, our future does not seem very brilliant. ”