A Reflection on World Food Day

Article by Kika Gusmão

We globally produce more than enough food to satisfy everyone’s needs, however, more than 700 million people around the world are facing hunger today. On the other hand, worldwide adult obesity has more than doubled since 1990, and adolescent obesity has quadrupled. In other words, 1 in 8 people in the world were living with obesity, in 2022, while 1 in 12 people were undernourished.

There is an obvious and rather alarming problem with how we manage the food we produce. To make things more concerning still, we know we are wasting up to one-third of all food produced globally.

Access to enough, nourishing, affordable food is a Human Right consecrated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and two other legally binding international covenants. It is clear that conditions such as hunger, stunting, and starvation are proof that these rights are not secured for a portion of the population; what is not always so obvious is that overweight and obesity are also results of malnourishment and hence a violation of the same rights.

Obesity is a leading cause of death worldwide with 5 million people having died prematurely, in 2019, as a direct or indirect result of obesity. Estimates say that 10% of global deaths are due to obesity, twice as much as in 1990 (these are estimates, and numbers vary between countries).

Overweight and obesity are a global pandemic with serious consequences, enhanced by the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle, coupled with regrettable eating habits (read more in the links below).

People are more sedentary now than ever before in human history. This is either due to an increased time spent doing office work or commuting, or because the population is spending more time online, on the computer, on their smartphones, or watching television.

Around one-third of the global population aged 15 years and older engages in insufficient physical activity. Moreover, the lack of physical activity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, accounting for 6% of global mortality. It is known that approximately 3.2 million people die every year as a consequence of their sedentary lifestyle.

The lack of physical activity and the overall sedentarisation of our routines have impacts on the body.

Sedentary time has been associated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, incidence or mortality of certain cancers, such as breast and colon, and type-2 diabetes.

Paired with a decrease in physical activity, the standard diet has become lower in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and seeds, while richer in processed foods, refined sugars, saturated fats, and processed meats.

The literature shows that a dietary pattern with nutrient-dense foods is associated with reduced risk of death from all causes; foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and seeds should be at the centre of the table.

This said, it seems that a healthy diet like the one described above is now less affordable than eating junk food which is high in all those items we should be avoiding. In other words, we have created ourselves a system in which we are encouraged to follow unhealthy eating habits. At the same time, our 9-5 jobs have us sitting all day, all year, leaving little to no space to expend all the energy (in the form of calories) we’re consuming.

Obesity and thinness are a double burden in many countries around the world where these conditions coexist. Even in low- and middle-income countries, obesity is on the rise, although undernourishment is still a concern. Could it be that, for many low-income families, buying pre-made, store-bought food with lots of added sugars and fats is more affordable than buying raw vegetables and grains?

The theme for this year’s World Food Day is “Right to foods for a better life and a better future”. The term “foods” stands for diversity, nutrition, affordability, and safety. The idea is that a greater diversity of nutritious foods should be available for everyone so that every single citizen has the chance to lead a balanced and nutritious life.

Continue reading:

• Obesity: global epidemiology and pathogenesis
• A 2022 update on the epidemiology of obesity and a call to action: as its twin COVID-19 pandemic appears to be receding, the obesity and dysmetabolism pandemic continues to rage on
• Overweight & Obesity Statistics

In-text images from Our World In Data and Unplash. Cover image from Pexels.