Over 14.3 million women and men in the countries of Europe
and Central Asia region are still malnourished according to the Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO) latest study, reports NaijaAgroNet.
FAO said, the State of Food Security and Nutrition in Europeand Central Asia 2017, analyzes a range of food security and nutrition
indicators to assess the countries’ progress towards achieving Sustainable
Development Goal 2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition
and promote sustainable agriculture) by 2030. It appraises dietary energy
supply, nutrition indicators such as stunting and wasting, anaemia, overweight
and obesity, as well changing diets and their impact on different population
groups.
After tremendous progress in recent years, the situation in
the region now appears to be stagnant. The prevalence of undernourishment
remained almost unchanged in the Caucasus and Central Asia according to the
report which was presented at a Regional Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems
for Healthy Diets.
“Poverty remains the single, most important obstacle to food
security,” said Vladimir Rakhmanin, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional
Representative for Europe and Central Asia. “But there is a clear path forward.
The Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, provide a powerful framework for
tackling the challenges faced by the countries of Europe and Central Asia.”
To better appraise the drivers and features of food
insecurity in the region, FAO’s report includes the new Food InsecurityExperience Scale (FIES), which serves to complement the analysis of progress
against Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) indicators on food security and
nutrition. Providing more timely and comprehensive analysis, the new
methodology shows that 14.3 million adults in the region suffered from severe
food insecurity during the period 2014-16.
Yet, to fully assess the situation the nutrition data
collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) is key, the report noted.
Malnutrition in one or more of its three main forms – undernutrition,
overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies – is present to varying degrees in
all countries of the region, the report states.
“Often all three coexist, in what is called the ’triple
burden’ of malnutrition,” said FAO senior policy officer Ariella Glinni,
principal author of the report. “It is not unusual for countries to experience
high rates of both child undernutrition and obesity. Micronutrient deficiencies
and overnutrition in children, women and men have become two major food
security and nutrition concerns across the region.”
Isaac Oyimah/GEE