Hunger, considered the greatest 21st century pandemictoday affects millions of people in the world and at least 6.5 percent of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean, which makes compliance with the 2030 Agenda, a universal alliance between nations, increasingly difficult. developed and developing, warns the UN in its report on food security and nutrition.
He emphasizes that, in addition to hunger, our region faces other challenges such as insecurity food, malnutrition, malnutrition and overweight, which affects, above all, girls, boys and adolescents. The situation could worsen further in 2024 with the global economic recession, analysts estimate.
Some 247.8 million Latin Americans “experienced moderate or severe food insecurity” in 2022, that is, “they were forced to reduce the quality or quantity of the food they consumed, or even ran out of food, went hungry and, in the most extreme case, went days without eating, putting their health and well-being at serious risk.” , says the report.
The region of Latin America and the Caribbean reached its highest prevalence of hunger, defined as undernourishment, at 8.6 percent of people in 2021, and moderate or severe food insecurity increased from 205.2 million in 2019 to 267.7 million two years later. But, although some progress was made in reducing hunger and food insecurity in 2022, we are still very far from meeting one of the main objectives of the 2030 Agenda: end hunger.
“In addition, the prevalence of overweight in boys and girls under 5 years of age is increasing, exceeding global estimates, and a quarter of the adult population is obese,” Leo Nederveen, head of the Risk Factors Unit, told EL TIEMPO. and Nutrition of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The skyrocketing numbers in the aforementioned sectors, in his opinion, are due to multiple factors. “The world, as well as the region of the Americas, faces an economic and social recession, accentuated by the ravages of the covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, the conflict in Ukraine, the economic slowdown, the increase in food inflation and income inequality, which have impacted and aggravated the situation. To the figures of overweight and obesity, with an estimated prevalence of 62.5 percent (64 percent in men and 61 percent in women), adds to the failure of food systems to provide healthy and nutritious diets for all,” he says.
The prevalence of food insecurity, moderate or severe, It affects Latin American women more than men. Although the gap has narrowed in the region, it is still 9.1 percentage points, making it the largest in the world, according to the UN report.
It also reveals that “moderate food insecurity or severe in rural areas was 8.3 percentage points higher than in urban areas” and that rural populations are, once again, those that are being left behind.
The prevalence of hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean today is 0.9 points above the records prior to the covid-19 pandemic, according to Mario Lubetkin, deputy director general and regional representative of the Food Organization of the United Nations. and Agriculture (FAO).
The UN report, titled ‘Regional Panorama of Food Security and Nutrition 2023’, was carried out by FAO together with the World Food Program (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
In colombia
Latin America and the Caribbean face, with increasing force, the challenge of malnutrition and malnutrition, which imply, according to the report, “stunted growth, wasting (low weight for height) in children and vitamin and mineral deficiencies”, as well as overweight and obesity.
In Colombia, 237 children have died from malnutrition so far in 2023, while extreme poverty has increased by 6.9 million peopleaccording to the National Institute of Health (INS) and the network of Food Banks of Colombia (Abaco), respectively.
Although our country has made important advances in health and nutrition coverage in recent years, such as reducing the prevalence of anemia in women among the 15 and 49 years old between 2000 and 2019, still faces challenges related to malnutrition.
Some 15.5 million Colombians, for example, live in food insecurity, of which 2.1 million are in a serious situation and 13.4 million are in a moderate situation, according to 2022 figures. “58.4 percent of “Adults are overweight or obese, which increases the risk of chronic non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease,” says Nederveen.
Colombia, in addition, “occupies first place in the highest consumption of sodium (salt) at the regional level, with 11.79 grams of sodium per day, “well above the WHO recommendation that suggests personal intake of less than 5 grams per day,” he adds. Remember that, according to the latest National Nutrition Situation Survey (2015), “food insecurity in Colombian households is focused on rural areas and is related, above all, to poverty, concentrated especially in the countryside.”
Furthermore, “food insecurity is exacerbated in households headed by women, due to the disparity and inequity in labor access, as well as in indigenous and Afro-descendant populations, historically vulnerable communities,” says Nederveen.
What most exacerbates hunger, food insecurity and obesity and overweight in Colombia, in his opinion, is that, compared to other countries, the most expensive healthy diet exists here. “Added to this is high and increasing food inflation.; the increase in poverty in the context of the covid-19 pandemic and the high levels of income inequality,” she says.
Overweight and obesity
The key factors for the risk of overweight and obesity in the region are “the high availability, affordability, advertising and promotion and intake of ultra-processed foods, which contain excessive amounts of fats, sugars and/or sodium and are low in micronutrients and fibers and have displaced food consumption such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains,” says the head of the Risk Factors and Nutrition Unit. Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the regions in the world most affected by overweight and obesity, he reiterates.
The growing challenge of overweight and obesity was responsible for 2.8 million deaths from diseases non-communicable in 2021, in the Americas, according to Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of PAHO. “In the last 50 years, rates of overweight and obesity have tripled, affecting 62.5 percent of the population in the region,” he maintains.
In his opinion, the regional prevalence of overweight in children and adolescents is “worrying”, which stands at 33.6 percent, higher than the world average. Therefore, “it is urgent to move forward in the transformation of food systems to guarantee healthy eating for all.”
During the covid-19 pandemic, the prevalence of overweight in boys and girls under 5 years of age increased slightly from 8.3 percent to 8.6 percent between 2020 and 2022; with a larger increase in South America and a smaller increase in Mesoamerica. In the Caribbean it remained stable, according to the UN report.
But obesity is not the only challenge facing the region. Some countries have a high prevalence of stunting in boys and girls under 5 years of age and the percentage reached 11.5 percent. The progress achieved was halted.
However, according to the UN, the scenario is not the same between the different subregions of our continent. The number of hungry people in South America, for example, fell by 3.5 million between 2021 and 2022 and yet, today there are 6 million more undernourished people compared to what was recorded before covid-19.
In Mexico and Central America, some 9.1 million people suffered from hunger in 2022 and in the Caribbean, 7.2 million. An increase of 700,000 more was recorded. Between 2019 and 2021, the increase was one million people, with the highest prevalence in Haiti, according to the report.
In South America, 36.4 percent of the population suffered from moderate or severe food insecurity. In Mesoamerica, the prevalence, moderate or severe, reached 34.5 percent in 2022, which represented an increase of 1.3 million additional people, compared to 2021; while in the Caribbean, 60.6 percent of the population experienced it in 2022.
Far from the goal
We are moving further and further away from fulfilling the commitments signed by the 193 UN member states, which signed the 2030 Agenda in 2015, because we have not yet “managed to improve the figures prior to the crisis unleashed by the (other) covid pandemic.” 19,” warned Lubetkin, the deputy director general of the FAO.
Among the points of the 2030 Agenda is “zero hunger”, which consists of “ensuring access for all people, particularly the poor or people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to adequate food. healthy, nutritious and sufficient throughout the year,” dictates the UN.
The 2030 Agenda has been seen as a historic opportunity for Latin America and the Caribbean because it includes priority issues such as the eradication of extreme poverty, the reduction of inequalities on all fronts, economic growth, decent work for all, sustainable cities, among others.
The center of the 2030 Agenda is dignity and equality among people and includes the transformation of our development style. It is a universal commitment made by all countries, both developed and developing, and a global alliance to make change, confront extreme natural disasters and mitigate our adaptation to the effects of climate change.
It is necessary, therefore, to prioritize these issues in public programs and policies, according to Rossana Polastri, regional director of the International Fund for Agricultural Development for Latin America and the Caribbean (IFAD), of the UN.To achieve the goals of the Agenda 2030, “the region’s food systems must be transformed; and although the fiscal situation of many countries in the region poses a significant challenge for governments, it is imperative to address the cost and affordability of healthy diets.
Food and agricultural policies formulated with this objective are essential to make healthy diets affordable for all people,” says Nederveen. “It is essential to implement comprehensive strategies and interconnected approaches that span multiple sectors. It is essential to prioritize the development of value chains that are sustainable, that promote nutrition, health and fair food trade.
In addition, effective regulations must be established on the availability, affordability, promotion and advertising of healthy foods and encourage the creation of healthier food environments,” he adds. He warns that “if efforts are not redoubled to meet the objectives of the 2030 Agenda , it could aggravate political instability, destabilize economies and cause irreparable damage to the environment.”
GLORY HELENA KING
Special for EL TIEMPO
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