UN Agencies Warn Covid-19 Crisis Will Fuel Malnutrition for Billions in Asia-Pacific

Jakarta: United Nations (UN) agencies have warned economic impact of covid-19 and worsening inequalities will fuel malnutrition for billions in Asia and the Pacific.
 
The UN Agencies are Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef),  the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
 
According to a new report published by the UN agencies today, the economic impact of covid-19 on the world’s most populous region is threatening to further undermine efforts to improve diets and nutrition of nearly two billion people in Asia and the Pacific who were already unable to afford healthy diets prior to the pandemic.

The report, 'Asia and the Pacific Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2020: Maternal and Child Diets at the Heart of Improving Nutrition' found that 1.9 billion people were unable to afford a healthy diet in this region, even before the covid-19 outbreak and the damage it has since caused to economies and individual livelihoods. 
 
"Due to higher prices for fruits, vegetables and dairy products, it has become nearly impossible for poor people in Asia and the Pacific to achieve healthy diets, the affordability of which is critical to ensure food security and nutrition for all – and for mothers and children in particular," said the UN agencies in a joint press release on Wednesdat.
 
"Food prices and available incomes govern household decisions on food and dietary intake. But the outbreak of covid-19 and a lack of decent work opportunities in many parts of the region, alongside significant uncertainty of food systems and markets, has led to a worsening of inequality, as poorer families with dwindling incomes further alter their diets to choose cheaper, less nutritious foods," the agencies stated.
 
More than 350 million people in the Asia and the Pacific were undernourished in 2019, or roughly half of the global total. 
 
Across the region, an estimated 74.5 million children under 5 years of age were stunted (too short for their age) and 31.5 million suffered from wasting (too thin for height). 
 
The majority of these children live in Southern Asia with nearly 56 million stunted and more than 25 million wasted. 
 
At the same time, overweight and obesity has increased rapidly, especially in South-Eastern Asia and the Pacific, with an estimated 14.5 million children under 5, being overweight or obese.
 
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