By: Staff Writer
January 27, 2023
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), in their latest “Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2022,”said that hunger, food insecurity, child overweight and adult obesity are all getting worse as a result of the overhang from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
The report said: “The 2022 socioeconomic outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean was not encouraging. Unfortunately, the increase in the poverty rate in the context of the pandemic, the high level of income inequality, the increase in international food prices and in the food consumer price index (CPI) have worsened the food security situation. These factors, often occurring in combination, have contributed to the increase in the prevalence of food insecurity and in the cost of a healthy diet.
“In the region, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, of overweight in children under 5 years of age and of adult obesity are higher than the global averages. Additionally, the region has the costliest healthy diet compared to other regions of the world. Diet quality is a critical link between food security and nutrition because poor diet quality can lead to different forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity.”
With the rising inflationary pressure, along with the war between Russia and the Ukraine in addition to many factories that manufacture food not coming online- or operating with skeleton crews and shortened work hours- these things make access to food more difficult for lower income families that are already facing pressure from high unemployment.
With regional inequality being the largest in the world, the economic slowdowns and rising inflation will continually impact the lower income families.
The report also said: “A healthy diet consists of adequate calories as well as essential nutrients and diverse foods from several different food groups needed for an active and healthy life. According to WHO and FAO, healthy diets consist on a wide variety of unprocessed or minimally processed foods and are balanced among all food groups, including a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. In terms of nutrients, a diet is considered healthy when total fat intake does not exceed 30 percent of calories consumed, saturated fat intake does not exceed 10 percent and sodium intake is less than two grams per day (equivalent to 5 grams of salt). Likewise, for a diet to be healthy, it is suggested to reduce the intake of highly processed foods and beverages, trans-fats and added sugars, while preferring the consumption of unsaturated fats and dietary fibre.
It added: “The rise in international food prices and the effects of food inflation, however, have increased the costs and the unaffordability of a healthy diet. To meet the targets of SDG 2 by 2030, agrifood systems in the region must be transformed in ways that ensure lower cost of nutritious foods to make healthy diets more affordable for all. Although the fiscal situation of many countries in the region poses significant challenges for governments, tackling the cost and affordability of healthy diets through policies is imperative. This report outlines evidence-based policy solutions to accomplish this goal.
Food inflation will continue to remain persistent and play a significant factor in access to food. “Food inflation in the region has been on the rise since 2019, and was subsequently worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, and then by the effects of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. High inflation rates reduce the purchasing power of households, putting their food security at risk and limiting their access to nutritious foods, especially in lower-income quintiles, who use a considerable portion of their budget to purchase foods.”