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Facts on Nutrition

  • 733 million people are undernourished
  • 2.3 billion people experience some level of food insecurity
  • 148 million children under five years of age are affected by stunting.
  • 45 million children under five years of age are suffering from wasting.
  • 37 million children under five years of age are living with overweight.
  • 48 percent of infants under six months of age are being exclusively breastfed
  • 14.7 percent of newborns are born with low birthweight.
  • 881 million adults are living with obesity
  • 29.9 percent of women aged 15 to 49 years are affected by anaemia.
  • 2.8 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet
  • Healthy diets can lead to a reduction of up to 97 percent in health costs in 2030.

A unique time-bound opportunity

The UN Decade of Action on Nutrition is a commitment by United Nations Member States to undertake 10 years of sustained and coherent implementation of policies, programmes and increased investments to eliminate malnutrition in all its forms, everywhere, leaving no one behind.

 

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will only be met when much greater political focus is devoted to improving nutrition, as nutrition is both an input and an outcome of sustainable development. The Nutrition Decade puts the spotlight on nutrition and focuses in particular on SDG 2 and SDG 3.

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Engaging nutrition stakeholders

The Nutrition Decade provides modalities of engagement such as Action Networks for sharing experiences, promoting improved coordination and building political momentum to scale up global action around specific topics linked to the Nutrition Decade’s Work Programme.

Acting through its joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Secretariat, the Nutrition Decade also encourages governments to turn the global commitments made at the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into concrete national commitments for action.

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