Poorest countries facing ’double burden’ of obesity and malnutrition

More than one in three lowand middle-income countries are facing high levels of obesity and under-nourishment, according to a report involving UCL researchers. The report, published today in The Lancet,  says a new approach is needed to help reduce the 'double burden' of undernutrition and obesity at the same time, as the issues become increasingly connected due to rapid changes in countries' food systems. This is especially important in lowand middle-income countries, according to the new four-paper report. More than a third of such countries had overlapping forms of malnutrition (45 of 123 countries in the 1990s, and 48 of 126 countries in the 2010s), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and east Asia and the Pacific. Co-author, Professor Jonathan Wells (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) said, "Until recently, the double burden of malnutrition was something that was considered to affect populations, or perhaps households, for example, where an overweight mother has a child who experiences a slower rate of growth. "But the speed with which our food environments are changing means that an increasing number of people are exposed to different forms of malnutrition at different stages of life. A growing number of those who develop obesity, from childhood onwards, also experienced under-nutrition early in life.