China News Service, Beijing, January 20 (Liu Liang). Many United Nations specialized agencies stated that the new crown pneumonia epidemic and increasing inequality are putting nearly 2 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region facing serious health diet risks.

  The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization jointly released a report entitled "An Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in the Asia-Pacific Region in 2020: Focusing on the Diets of Mothers, Infants and Children, and Promoting Improved Nutrition" on the 20th. report.

  The report pointed out that the economic impact of the epidemic may endanger efforts in the Asia-Pacific region to improve diets and nutrition.

Before the outbreak, 1.9 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region could not afford healthy meals.

  According to the report, the affordability of healthy diets is critical to ensuring food security and nutrition for everyone, especially for mothers, infants and children.

Due to the rising prices of fruits, vegetables and dairy products, the poor in the Asia-Pacific region are almost unable to guarantee a healthy diet.

  The report pointed out that the outbreak of the epidemic, lack of decent job opportunities, and serious uncertainties in the food system and market have led to a further increase in inequality in the Asia-Pacific region. Poor families have to change dietary choices due to reduced incomes and turn to low consumer prices and lack of nutrition. food.

  Statistics show that in 2019, more than 350 million people in the Asia-Pacific region were undernourished, accounting for almost half of the world.

In this area, it is estimated that approximately 74.5 million children under 5 are stunted, and 31.5 million children are wasted.

The situation in South Asia is the most severe. Nearly 56 million children are stunted and more than 25 million are wasting.

At the same time, the number of overweight and obese people is increasing rapidly, especially in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. It is estimated that about 14.5 million children under the age of 5 are facing overweight or obesity problems.

  The report calls for promoting the transformation of the food system in the Asia-Pacific region, increasing supply and promoting families' access to nutritious, safe and sustainable diets.

Nutrition and healthy diets need to be made available to all people.

In order to achieve this goal, the report recommends the adoption of comprehensive guidelines and policies to play a key role in solving cost issues and ensuring healthy diets for mothers, infants and children.

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