File photo taken on October 10, 2006 shows a man stands at a bus stop in Manchester, in north-west England. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Economic growth has virtually eliminated hunger in Europe and Central Asia, but rising affluence is leading to an increase in the proportion of people who are overweight or obese, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said here Tuesday.
The findings were contained in a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Dujarric said.
"The publication analyzes data such as dietary energy supply; undernourishment indicators such as stunting and wasting; anaemia; obesity; and what people on average are eating," the spokesman said.
"It finds that as incomes increase, there is a progression towards a diet high in sweeteners, vegetable and animal fat while low in grains," he added.
The report, entitled "Regional Overview of Food Insecurity: Europe and Central Asia," analyzes a wealth of country data: on dietary energy supply, undernourishment indicators such as stunting and wasting, anaemia, overweight and obesity, and what people on average are eating.
The report points to a pattern whereby countries progress from dealing predominantly with undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, to coping with degenerative diseases associated with increased dietary fat, sugar, meat and dairy, and processed foods. This transition is often accompanied by a more sedentary lifestyle.
"As we trace the structure of diets as incomes increase," said FAO economist and report author David Sedik, "we find that the portion of total calories derived from sweeteners, vegetable oils and animal products increases, while that derived from cereals declines. There are important nuances, but the general tendency is clear."
In other words, the data show a progression towards a diet high in sweeteners, vegetable and animal fat, and low in grains.
This means that undernutrition issues have largely been overcome in the region - a stunning achievement. Only 7 percent of the population in Europe and Central Asia live in countries where the predominant nutrition problems are undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.
However, malnutrition caused by deficiencies in micronutrients such as iron, Vitamin A and zinc, and overnutrition issues measured by overweight and obesity, have remained and increased. Today, 13 percent of the population of the region lives in countries suffering from a "triple burden" of all three nutrition problems (undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and overnutrition).
File photo taken on Oct. 10, 2006 shows a woman stands outside a sandwich shop in Manchester, in north-west England. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
More worryingly, 57 percent of the region's population live in countries where the main nutrition problem is overnutrition. According to the report, 70 percent of the population in the region suffer from malnutrition characterized predominantly by a triple malnutrition burden or by overnutrition.
The situation is not static, however. Countries in the undernutrition group are on track to join the triple-burden category in the years ahead.
"As more countries transition into the triple-burden category," Sedik said, "health expenditures will need to rise rapidly and substantially to deal with the higher healthcare costs associated with more diabetes, heart disease, and other diet-related non-communicable diseases."
While Part One of the report presents the problem, Part Two is devoted to solutions. It explores several promising policies for addressing and eventually eradicating food insecurity, tailored to the income and nutrition profile of each country. These are policies that have been tried and proven effective.
Food fortification is offered as a policy option for countries in the undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies grouping.
Fortification of milk with vitamin D, salt with iodine, wheat flour with iron, folic acid and thiamine are examples of this approach, which has been a critical driver of improvements in micronutrient consumption in children in Central Asia.
Similarly, bio-fortification uses plant breeding to increase the micronutrient content of crops. Bio-fortified crops could be used to offset the relatively low micronutrient content of wheat in Central Asia and the Caucasus, where cereals supply more than 50 percent of dietary energy.
