Shining a light to spur action on nutrition
The Global Nutrition Report is the world’s leading report on the state of global nutrition. It is data-led and produced independently each year to cast a light on where progress has been made and to identify where challenges remain. The 2018 Global Nutrition Report shares insights into the current state of global nutrition, highlighting the unacceptably high burden of malnutrition in the world.
Every year, the Global Nutrition Report aims to inspire governments, civil society and private stakeholders to act to end malnutrition in all its forms. It also plays the important role of helping hold stakeholders to account on the commitments they have made towards tackling malnutrition.
The 2018 Global Nutrition Report identifies areas where progress has been made in recent years but argues that it is too slow and too inconsistent. It identifies where major problems still lie – and thus where actions are needed to consolidate progress and fill major gaps.
“Malnutrition is responsible for more ill health than any other cause. Children under five years of age face multiple burdens: 150.8 million are stunted, 50.5 million are wasted and 38.3 million are overweight. Meanwhile 20 million babies are born of low birth weight each year. Overweight and obesity among adults are at record levels with 38.9% of adults overweight or obese, stretching from Africa to North America, and increasing among adolescents. Women have a higher burden than men when it comes to certain forms of malnutrition: one third of all women of reproductive age have anaemia and women have a higher prevalence of obesity than men. Millions of women are still underweight.”
The report puts forward five critical steps that are needed to speed up progress to end malnutrition in all its forms:
- Break down silos and develop comprehensive programmes;
- Prioritize and invest in the data needed and capacity to use it;
- Scale up and diversify financing for nutrition;
- Focus on healthy diets to drive better nutrition everywhere; and
- Improve the targets and commitments that are driving actors.
The report was released in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 29, 2018 during the global event “Accelerating the end of hunger and malnutrition”, gathering decision-makers, researchers and practitioners from key organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, the European Union and UNICEF.
Please visit the website to download the Global Nutrition Report Report, the Executive Summary, as well as for additional resources related to the report.
For further reference, you can also visit the F&BKP Knowledge Portal “Global Nutrition Report 2018: Shining a light to spur action on nutrition“.
