ADB: Obesity, malnutrition are twin threats to Asia-Pacific region

Obesity and malnutrition pose twin threats especially to children in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new Asian Development Bank study.

 

The ADB study suggested a new approach involving more public awareness campaigns and investments in health, education, water and sanitation infrastructure.

 

“Many developing countries in the region face the twin burdens of both under and overnutrition. Improving nutritional standards rather than just boosting calorie intake is essential if the region wants a secure and healthy food future,” said ADB Assistant Chief Economist Cyn-Young Park.

 

In its study "Food Security in Asia and the Pacific," the ADB noted sharp changes in diets and uneven food access in the Asia-Pacific.

 

Compiling the study were ADB, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia.

 

The study showed that while the rich lean toward protein-rich and processed and sugar-based foods such as meat and dairy products, more than 500 million remain undernourished.

 

It noted obesity is rising in urban centers and in some Pacific Islands, leading to a jump in cases of diabetes and other diet-related diseases.

 

A spike in demand for meat also threatens to change agricultural land use patterns, the study said.

 

On the other hand, undernourishment has led to Vitamin A deficiency in economies in the region like Cambodia, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan, the study showed.

 

"Asia and the Pacific currently accounts for 60 percent of the world’s population, and it will have added over 850 million people by 2050, requiring vastly more food, but expanding cultivated land in nearly all countries in the region is no longer a viable option," the ADB noted.

 

"Tackling both undernourishment and better nutrition, especially for children, requires more public awareness campaigns and targeted investments in health, education, water and sanitation infrastructure," it added.

 

The trends also lead to other challenges to food security such as rising population, strains on land, water and energy, and the threat from climate change.

 

"(S)olutions must be wide ranging and sustainable, and include both domestic and broader measures. High-yielding crops and other technologies are needed to produce more food from the same amounts of land, and small poor rural landholders must get support to become more productive with better access to quality seeds, finance and other inputs," the ADB said

 

Protecting the poor from price spikes

 

The study also suggested that policy makers help protect the poor from spikes in food prices, noting food takes up to 70 percent of their income.

 

It also urged policy makers to ensure the poor fully benefit from economic growth via social safety nets.

 

Presently, it said social protection spending takes up less than 2 percent of total GDP in a third of 31 Asian countries.

 

The ADB also called for several strategic remedies:

 

- setting up national and regional food reserves as buffers during shortages

- establishing emergency funds and insurance products to cushion against disasters

- food trade liberalization

- investment in agricultural research

— ELR, GMA News