More Indians becoming obese, number of undernourished in India decline: UN report

More Indians are becoming obese while the number of undernourished people in the country have declined, according to a report by the UN that said that globally over 820 million people are suffering from hunger.

The report titled the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 was issued Monday by United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The report said that an estimated 820 million people across the world did not have enough to eat in 2018, up from 811 million in the previous year, which is the third year of increase in a row, underscoring the immense challenge of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030.

In India, the number of undernourished people declined from 253.9 million in 2004-06 to 194.4 million in 2016-18. However the number of adults (18 years and older) who are obese grew from 24.1 million in 2012 to 32.8 million in 2016.

The number of children (under 5 years of age) who are overweight stood at 2.9 million in 2018.

In percentage terms, prevalence of undernourishment in the total population in India was 22.2 per cent in 2004-06 and 14.5 per cent in 2016-18. Prevalence of wasting in children (under 5 years of age) was 20.8 per cent in 2018, while the Prevalence of obesity in the adult population was three per cent in 2012, increasing to 3.8 per cent in 2016
The unique growth patterns and inequality levels in each country may help explain the differences observed in the countries in terms of poverty and food security and nutrition trends,"