Do you suffer from malnutrition? Quite possibly
The word “malnutrition” tends to evoke images of starving children in refugee camps, fleeing conflict or drought in faraway lands. While that image does reflect a reality of hunger, it does not solely define malnutrition or those who suffer from it.
Certainly, with more than 820 million hungry people in the world, most of them living in our Asia-Pacific region, undernourishment is definitely a huge problem and one that has stubbornly resisted attempts to crack it.
But there are other malnutrition phantoms in our midst, and these are lurking closer to home than you might realise. Waistlines of men and women have been expanding in recent decades and there are now more than two billion overweight adults in the world — 670 million of them obese. More than 120 million children and teens are also defined as obese.
What we eat defines how well-nourished (or malnourished) we are. In other words, it’s not simply quantity (as in how much we eat) that’s causing the malnourishment, it’s more to do with what we’re eating — or not eating. Simply put, the world faces a triple burden of malnutrition — from undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies (lack of vitamins and minerals) and from becoming overweight or obese.
There are, of course, reasons (and excuses) for the weight gain. Lifestyles and diets have changed. Increased urbanisation indirectly contributes to malnourishment, as does the pressure of everyday life — and our accompanying reliance on processed, fast food. Indeed, in many Asia-Pacific countries, we are bombarded by advertisements encouraging us to eat more junk food high in sugars, salt and fats. Meantime, many people are consuming fewer fruits, vegetables and other foods high in fibre. It seems we’ve forgotten that an apple a day keeps the doctor away!
Technologies such as computers and smartphones, which bring us much of our entertainment these days, encourage more sedentary lifestyles, which mean the additional calories we are absorbing are not being burned off by exercise. That’s simply a “fat fact”.
This phenomenon of poor diets is not restricted to urban areas or richer countries or wealthier people within poorer countries. Some people, due to where they live, don’t even have the option to buy healthier foods. Where fruits and vegetables are either not available or deemed too expensive, people eat whatever is available — often fried street foods.
THE PRICE OF POOR DIET
As with most excesses, there is a human and monetary price to pay for all of this. Diets have become so unhealthy that, when combined with sedentary lifestyles, they rank as the world’s primary risk factor for disability and death from non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Apart from the human costs, the financial toll of malnutrition in all its forms — undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, as well as carrying too much weight and obesity — is estimated at US$3.5 trillion (106 trillion baht) a year.
So, it’s clear: it is in both our personal and collective best interest to change our ways. But where to start and who leads?
Thailand, for example, has reached an important point in its nutrition transition. The food distribution and retailing system is mostly controlled by modern supermarkets and convenience stores. The problem of increasing availability of calorie-dense foods is especially threatening.
According to Dr Visith Chavasit, director of Mahidol University’s Institute of Nutrition, weight issues and obesity are emerging nutritional health problems related to socio-economic status, as found in high-income countries.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity will be major health threats for seniors and require large budgets to treat effectively.
The challenge for the Thai government and population is to boost affordable healthy diets and to avoid the socio-economic inequity of nutritional outcomes observed in many rich countries. Dr Visith said the government has a role to play in combating NCDs in our ageing society by promoting preventative healthcare and measures focused on senior citizens in the future. Such measures could save as much as 505 billion baht by 2032 and enable Thailand to achieve Sustainable Development Goal No.2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
As individuals, we can start by taking a look in the mirror, and realising there are personal choices that we all can and should make about the foods we eat. But governments, farmers and the private sector have equally important roles to play. Governments can improve food systems by implementing policies that place a higher priority on nutritious foods.
As one example, the city of Seoul in South Korea is tackling rising obesity through a number of initiatives, including certifying “smart meals” with lower levels of fat and salt at restaurants, child-care centres and even convenience stores so that youth can identify a healthier option. And young people are key to turning this around — so parents, teachers and other mentors are vital to instilling healthy diets at a young age.
The private sector — food manufacturers, retailers, etc — can improve the nutritional quality of their products and promote them as such to the public. Farmers can plant a wider variety of nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts. The diversification should even improve the farmer’s livelihood and help make his or her family more food secure in the process.
So we all have a role to play, particularly as the world has pledged to end malnutrition in all forms by 2030 as a key Sustainable Development Goal.
Thailand will be among countries worldwide organising activities to mark World Food Day today, under a theme that calls upon us all to take action to achieve healthier diets. It claims “our actions are our future”. The future is already here. So our actions should start now.