The Hidden Famine: Malnutrition and Obesity Side by Side

It will become increasingly common to see obese parents in some developing countries raising underweight and stunted children because high-calorie food is cheaper and more readily available than the nutritious food needed for healthy growth, said Alan Dangour of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

“We are certainly looking at a period of increased instability in the supply of food, and also the diversity and types of food that are available are going to change,” said Dr Dangour, who is to lead a major study into global food insecurity and its impact on health.

“A result of this is called the ‘double burden’ of malnutrition,” he added. “Under-nutrition causes starvation and stunting in children, whereas obesity and over-weight in adults is another form of malnutrition, caused by eating the wrong type of food.

“The double burden exists in countries, or indeed in households, where you get a stunted child and an overweight mother. And that happens in many countries around the world as a result of the wrong diets being eaten [by adults] and the wrong diets being given to children,” he said.

Calories are more affordable now then they have ever been in human history, but it’s not enough. Policymakers and scientists have spent decades trying to figure out how to feed more people, and in a sense they’ve succeeded. Some of the strains of wheat that were developed in 20th century saved hundreds of millions of lives, but those same strains are a shadow of their predecessors, and are lacking in the essential nutrients we need to survive. They are empty calories.

Now the world is facing famine conditions that are unlike any other we’ve experienced before. We have plenty of food, but many of us are just dying slower from obesity and chronic diseases. So when you go to the grocery store, skip the deficient grains and sugary snacks, and buy real food. Otherwise, you might as well be starving yourself.