Challenges

• Poor nutrition contributes to 1 out of 2 deaths (53%) associated with infectious diseases among children aged under five in developing countries (see graph)
• 1 out of 2 children in Africa with severe malnutrition dies during hospital treatment due to inappropriate care
• 1 out of 4 preschool children suffers from under-nutrition, which can severely affect a child's mental and physical development
• Under-nutrition among pregnant women in developing countries leads to 1 out of 6 infants born with low birth weight. This is not only a risk factor for neonatal deaths, but also causes learning disabilities, mental, retardation, poor health, blindness and premature death.
• Inappropriate feeding of infants and young children are responsible for one-third of the cases of malnutrition.
• 1 out of 3 people in developing countries are affected by vitamin and mineral deficiencies and therefore more subject to infection, birth defects and impaired physical and psycho-intellectual development.
• Zinc deficiencies: magnitude unknown but likely to prevail in deprived populations; associated with growth retardation, diarrhoea and immune deficiency
• 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS are exposed to an increased risk of food insecurity and malnutrition, espeicially in poor settings, which may further aggravate their situation.

But this is just one side of the problem.

• 2 out of 3 overweight and obese people now live in developing countries, the vast majority in emerging markets and transition economies.
• By 2010, more obese people will live in developing countries than in the developed world.
• Under-and over-nutrition problems and diet-related chronic diseases account for more than half of the world's diseases and hundreds of millions of dollars in public expenditure.