Despite high food prices, obesity remains a global epidemic - World Bank report.

Obesity and overweight continue to be a global epidemic problem even in times of high food prices.

This is according to the latest edition of the Food Price Watch released by the World Bank Group.  The report noted that while global food prices declined in the last six months, these are still very high and are close to their historical peaks. It is because of this that people choose to serve cheaper and less nutritious food for their family.

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“Unhealthy food tends to be cheaper than healthy ones, like junk food in developed countries. When poor people with some disposable income in developing countries try to cope with high and increasingly volatile food prices, they also tend to choose cheap food that is high in calories but without much nutritious value,” said Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Group’s Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. “Half of the world's overweight people live in just nine countries -- China, United States, Germany, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Turkey -- evidence that obesity is not an epidemic restricted only to rich countries.”

The report further warned that with high and volatile food prices, millions will continue to suffer from poor nutrition, whether it is hunger, undernutrition or obesity which can cause premature death. In 2008, the number of overweight adults was 1.46 billion, of which 508 million were obese. Even conservative estimates see that number rising to 2.16 billion for overweight adults and nearly doubling to 1.12 billion for obese by 2030 across all regions and in countries like China and India.

What is sad though is that the report pointed that despite the gravity of this problem, it is not evident that reducing obesity is among the top global policy priorities. Responses to the obesity epidemic have ranged from doing nothing to trying to promote healthier behaviors through taxes, bans or restrictions on certain foods and awareness campaigns. There have also been extreme cases in Japan where fines have been imposed to employees exceeding certain waistline limits.

The State of Food Insecurity in the World

I came across some hunger facts recently and I want to share them with you.  Most of these came from the report titled, The State of Food Insecurity in the World published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in 2012.

The significant findings of the study are: 

from fao.org

• About 870 million people are estimated to have been undernourished in the period 2010–12. This represents 12.5 percent of the global population, or one in eight people. The vast majority of these – 852 million – live in developing countries, where the prevalence of undernourishment is now estimated at 14.9 percent of the population. Undernourishment in the world is unacceptably high. 

• The global number of hungry people declined by 132 million between 1990-92 and 2010-12, or from 18.6 percent to 12.5 percent of the world's population, and from 23.2 percent to 14.9 percent in developing countries - putting the MDG target within reach if adequate, appropriate actions are taken.

• Asia and the Pacific have the largest share of the world's hungry people at 563 million but the numbers have been going down for decades due to regional economic growth.  Undernourishment decreased by 30% in the past two decades and despite population growth in the region, the prevalence of undernourishment decreased from 23.7% to 13.9%.

• Developed regions also saw the number of hungry rise, from 13 million in 2004-2006 to 16 million in 2010-2012, reversing a steady decrease in previous years from 20 million in 1990-1992.

The report also noted that strong economic growth is important in the fight to reduce hunger. Regions that experienced growth in the past decades also rapidly reduced hunger incidence.  However, economic growth must reach and involve the poor through increased employment and other income-generating opportunities.

from fao.org

One of the areas the report pointed out is agricultural growth which is particularly effective in reducing hunger and malnutrition in poor countries since most of the poor depend on agriculture and related activities for at least part of their livelihoods.  Women should also be involved in these development, the report said, since they have more control over household income and more money tends to be spent on items that improve nutrition and health.

The report further suggested that social protection systems are needed to ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind and can also contribute to and benefit from economic growth.  Programs such as cash transfers, food vouchers or health insurance are needed for the most vulnerable who often cannot take immediate advantage of growth opportunities. Social protection can improve nutrition for young children - an investment that will pay off in the future with better educated, stronger and healthier adults. With effective social protection complementing inclusive economic growth, hunger and malnutrition can be eliminated. 

You may download the full report from the FAO website here.

How to Meet our MDG Commitments

I recently attended a presentation called Pulong Saliksikan on MDGs at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).  The presenter, Dr. Roehlano Briones,  said that initial results of their study showed that the country will not achieve its MDG commitments for education and maternal health, and will only achieve minimal reductions in poverty under the present scenario.  To close the gaps, government must increase public spending in these sectors. 

He added that the country failed to achieve the first MDG on fighting extreme poverty.   Simulations showed that per capita income growth will not reduce poverty since the economy will not able to create higher paying jobs up to 2015. 

Poverty reduction will be faster if government spending is directed towards closing MDG gaps, although this will not contribute significantly to the attainment of MDG 1. However, we cannot depend on foreign assistance funds to finance this effort since we already have a limited access due to our low absorptive capacity for such.  Aside from this, there is 

The study recommends that government to close the MDG gaps through tax financing. This is feasible if there is an increase in efficiency in government tax collecting efforts. The proponents argue that this has been achieved before so there is no problem in doing it again.  They also recommended introducing new tax policies such as the rationalization of fiscal incentives and imposition of sin taxes on tobacco and alcohol.  Other sources of funds may come from increasing the charges for road users, especially trucks that inflict most damage to our roads.  Excise taxes on petroleum products may also be increased.

To learn more how the Philippines is faring with achieving the MDGs, click here.