Report... Half of the Earth's population suffers from a poor diet
An international report published on Tuesday said that nearly half of the world's population suffers from a poor diet associated with eating more or less food than the norm, which harms their health and the planet.
The Global Nutrition Report, which is based on data from organizations such as the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization and UNICEF, showed that 48 percent of people eat more or less than necessary.
The world will not achieve eight of the nine nutritional goals set by the World Health Organization by the year 2025 at the current rate, knowing that reducing wasting in children and developmental delays and obesity in adults has become a necessity.
The report indicates that about 150 million children under the age of five suffer from retarded growth, while more than 45 million children suffer from wasting and about 40 million suffer from overweight.
The report also notes that more than 40% of men and women (2.2 billion people) are overweight or obese.
"The proportion of unavoidable deaths caused by poor diet has increased by 15 percent since 2010," Renata Micha, chair of the group of independent experts that produced the report, told AFP.
"Our global results show that our nutrition has not improved over the last 10 years and today poses a significant threat to the health of people and the planet."
People do not consume the recommended amounts of useful foods, such as fruits and vegetables, according to the report, which pointed out that low-income countries consume the least amounts of these foods.
The consumption of foods bad for health - such as red meat, dairy and sweetened drinks - is increasing in the higher-income countries where the highest rates of obesity are recorded.
The report found that global food demand accounted for 35% of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.
The report notes that "animal products have a higher environmental impact than plant-based products."
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed an additional 155 million people into extreme poverty, as well as affecting diets and health, according to the report.
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