Malnutrition: a Worldwide Issue

The authors of this article, all public health specialists in nutrition, assess here the amount of malnourishment affecting the world’s population, whether in developing or industrialized countries. After an overview of the numbers and the main problems of malnutrition, they describe its impact on the societies concerned – an impact that is not merely demographic but also economic, since a malnourished person is generally in poor health and so, in addition to the medical costs incurred, does not play a full part in the economic life of his or her country.
The article goes on to present the various factors leading to malnutrition, both those linked to food and others, as well as the policies relating to food practised in most countries (via agriculture, education, trade, etc.), which so far have done little to promote the health of their populations. However, for some years now, according to the authors, there appears to have be a growing awareness on the part of the major international organizations, suggesting that feeding people is now seen as a high priority because of its role in promoting development (sustainable, of course).
That said, in order to hope to cope at all with the huge problems of malnutrition, they argue that new approaches are essential with regard to general nutrition. These must encompass all aspects both directly and indirectly linked to nutrition (agriculture, health, environment, trade, land-use planning, etc.), and they require collaborations across disciplines and sectors.