Food policies and their implications on overweight and obesity trends in selected countries in the Near East and North Africa region
Food policies and their implications on overweight and obesity trends in selected countries in the Near East and North Africa region

Author: International Food Policy Research Institute

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2020-12-16

Total Pages: 58

ISBN-13: 9251336830

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Regional and global trends in body weight show that the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region countries, especially the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries, have the highest average body mass index and highest rates of overweight and obesity in the world. There exist several explanations that expound the high rates of overweight and obesity in most NENA countries, including the nutrition transition, urbanization, changes in lifestyle, and consequent reduction of physical activities. This study examines the implication of food policies, mainly trade and government food subsidies, on evolving nutritional transitions and associated body weight outcomes. We examine the evolution of trade (food) policies, food systems, and body weight outcomes across selected countries in the NENA region – Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. In particular, we investigate the implications of important trade (food) policies in shaping diets and food systems as well as their implications on public health outcomes, mainly the rising levels of overweight and obesity in the NENA region. We provide a simple conceptual framework through which trade policies (tariff rates) and domestic government food policies (subsidies) may affect food systems and nutritional outcomes. An important and innovative feature of this study is that it compiles several macro- and micro-level datasets that allow both macro and micro-level analyses of the evolution of trade (food) policies and associated obesity trends. This approach helps to at least partly overcome the data scarcity that complicates rigorous policy research in the NENA region. Overweight and obesity rates have almost doubled between 1975 and 2016, with varying rates and trends across regions. For instance, whereas body weight in the NENA region was comparable with that found in high-income countries in the early years, after the 1990s regional overweight and obesity rates became much higher than those in high-income countries. Specifically, while most high-income countries are experiencing a relative slowing of increases in overweight rates, the trend for the NENA region continues to increase at higher rates. The evolution of overweight rates for the GCC countries are even more concerning. These trends are likely to contribute to the already high burden of non-communicable diseases in the NENA region.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2018-09-14

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 9251305722

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New evidence this year corroborates the rise in world hunger observed in this report last year, sending a warning that more action is needed if we aspire to end world hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. Updated estimates show the number of people who suffer from hunger has been growing over the past three years, returning to prevailing levels from almost a decade ago. Although progress continues to be made in reducing child stunting, over 22 percent of children under five years of age are still affected. Other forms of malnutrition are also growing: adult obesity continues to increase in countries irrespective of their income levels, and many countries are coping with multiple forms of malnutrition at the same time – overweight and obesity, as well as anaemia in women, and child stunting and wasting.

Current Status and Response to the Global Obesity Pandemic
Current Status and Response to the Global Obesity Pandemic

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2019-07-24

Total Pages: 101

ISBN-13: 0309485053

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The increasing prevalence and burden of obesity transcends borders, straining populations worldwide. Data shows that 50 million girls, 74 million boys, 390 million women, and 281 million men were estimated to have obesity in 2016 (NCD-RisC, 2017). The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on October 9, 2018 to address the status of the global obesity pandemic and discuss diverse approaches to manage this problem. Speakers examined the collective prevalence, costs, and drivers of obesity around the world using cross-cultural comparisons. Panels and group discussions emphasized the need to reduce disparities in prevention and treatment efforts and to generate new policy and system initiatives related to nutrition and physical activity worldwide. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Near East and North Africa - Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023
Near East and North Africa - Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2023

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2023-12-04

Total Pages: 80

ISBN-13: 9251382107

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The Overview presents the food security and nutrition situation in the Arab States for 2022 when the effects of the war in Ukraine and record-high food and fertilizer prices hit the region that was just recovering from the economic and social shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, hunger in the Arab States has reached its highest level since 2000. The Arab region continued to suffer from the triple burden of malnutrition: besides undernutrition, child overweight/adult obesity and micronutrient deficiencies, such as anaemia. The prevalences of overweight among children and of anaemia among women are higher than the world average. The downward trend of child stunting has slowed down, and recent high food prices might even reverse it. Furthermore, the cost of a healthy diet in the region has been increasing in recent years, and healthy diets are out of reach for almost every other person in the Arab States. The region’s deteriorating food security and nutrition situation calls for the urgent need to transform agrifood systems, making them more resilient to shocks and emerging crises, more efficient, inclusive and sustainable to reach the Sustainable Development Goal 2 targets.

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021–2030
OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2021–2030

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2021-07-05

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 9251346089

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The Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030 is a collaborative effort of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. It brings together the commodity, policy and country expertise of both organisations as well as input from collaborating member countries to provide an annual assessment of the prospects for the coming decade of national, regional and global agricultural commodity markets. The publication consists of 11 Chapters; Chapter 1 covers agricultural and food markets; Chapter 2 provides regional outlooks and the remaining chapters are dedicated to individual commodities.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020
The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2020-07-01

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 925132901X

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Updates for many countries have made it possible to estimate hunger in the world with greater accuracy this year. In particular, newly accessible data enabled the revision of the entire series of undernourishment estimates for China back to 2000, resulting in a substantial downward shift of the series of the number of undernourished in the world. Nevertheless, the revision confirms the trend reported in past editions: the number of people affected by hunger globally has been slowly on the rise since 2014. The report also shows that the burden of malnutrition in all its forms continues to be a challenge. There has been some progress for child stunting, low birthweight and exclusive breastfeeding, but at a pace that is still too slow. Childhood overweight is not improving and adult obesity is on the rise in all regions. The report complements the usual assessment of food security and nutrition with projections of what the world may look like in 2030, if trends of the last decade continue. Projections show that the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 and, despite some progress, most indicators are also not on track to meet global nutrition targets. The food security and nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socio economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report puts a spotlight on diet quality as a critical link between food security and nutrition. Meeting SDG 2 targets will only be possible if people have enough food to eat and if what they are eating is nutritious and affordable. The report also introduces new analysis of the cost and affordability of healthy diets around the world, by region and in different development contexts. It presents valuations of the health and climate-change costs associated with current food consumption patterns, as well as the potential cost savings if food consumption patterns were to shift towards healthy diets that include sustainability considerations. The report then concludes with a discussion of the policies and strategies to transform food systems to ensure affordable healthy diets, as part of the required efforts to end both hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries
Food policies and obesity in low and middle income countries

Author: Abay, Kibrom A.

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-04-10

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13:

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Understanding the public health implication of fiscal policies is crucial to combat recently increasing overweight and obesity rates in many low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). This study examines the implication of food policies, mainly tariff rates on “unhealthy” foods, including sugar and confectionery products as well as fats and oils, and governments’ subsidies on individuals’ body weight outcomes. We compile several macro- and micro-level datasets that provide for several LMICs macro-level information on food policies and micro-level anthropometric data. We exploit temporal dynamics in tariff rates on “unhealthy” foods and governments’ spending on subsidies to estimate fixed effects models characterizing the evolution of body weight outcomes. We find that temporal dynamics in tariff rates on unhealthy and energy-dense foods are significantly and negatively associated with body weight. Conditional on several observable and time-invariant unobservable factors, a decrease in tariff rates on sugar and confectionary foods or fats and oils is associated with an increase in overweight and obesity rates. On the other hand, an increase in subsidy rates, as a share of government expenditure, is significantly associated with higher overweight and obesity rates. Interestingly, we find that the implications of these food policies are more pronounced among poorer individuals. This is intuitive because relatively poorer households are more likely to spend a larger share of their income on food consumption or unhealthy foods, and these types of households are beneficiaries of government subsidies in many LMICs. These findings have important implications for informing public health policies in LMICs, which are experiencing an unprecedented rise in overweight and obesity rates.

2021 Global food policy report: Transforming food systems after COVID-19: Synopsis
2021 Global food policy report: Transforming food systems after COVID-19: Synopsis

Author: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2021-04-13

Total Pages: 8

ISBN-13: 0896294013

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The coronavirus pandemic has upended local, national, and global food systems, and put the Sustainable Development Goals further out of reach. But lessons from the world’s response to the pandemic can help address future shocks and contribute to food system change. In the 2021 Global Food Policy Report, IFPRI researchers and other food policy experts explore the impacts of the pandemic and government policy responses, particularly for the poor and disadvantaged, and consider what this means for transforming our food systems to be healthy, resilient, efficient, sustainable, and inclusive. Chapters in the report look at balancing health and economic policies, promoting healthy diets and nutrition, strengthening social protection policies and inclusion, integrating natural resource protection into food sector policies, and enhancing the contribution of the private sector. Regional sections look at the diverse experiences around the world, and a special section on finance looks at innovative ways of funding food system transformation. Critical questions addressed include: - Who felt the greatest impact from falling incomes and food system disruptions caused by the pandemic? - How can countries find an effective balance among health, economic, and social policies in the face of crisis? - How did lockdowns affect diet quality and quantity in rural and urban areas? - Do national social protection systems such as cash transfers have the capacity to protect poor and vulnerable groups in a global crisis? - Can better integration of agricultural and ecosystem polices help prevent the next pandemic? - How did companies accelerate ongoing trends in digitalization and integration to keep food supply chains moving? - What different challenges did the pandemic spark in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and how did these regions respond?

The State of Food and Agriculture 2013
The State of Food and Agriculture 2013

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Fao

Published: 2013-07-30

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9789251076712

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Malnutrition -- in the form of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overweight and obesity -- imposes unacceptably high economic and social costs on countries at all income levels. The causes of malnutrition are complex, yet all forms of malnutrition share one common feature: nutritionally inappropriate diets. The State of Food and Agriculture 2013 makes the case that healthy diets and good nutrition begin with food and agriculture.

The Challenge of Obesity in the WHO European Region and the Strategies for Response
The Challenge of Obesity in the WHO European Region and the Strategies for Response

Author: World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe

Publisher: World Health Organization

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 77

ISBN-13: 9289013885

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In a brief, clear and easily accessible way, this summary illustrates the dynamics of the obesity epidemic and its impact on public health throughout the WHO European Region, particularly in eastern countries. It describes how factors that increase the risk of obesity are shaped in different settings, such as the family, school, community and workplace. It makes both ethical and economic arguments for accelerating action against obesity, and analyses effective programs and policies in different government sectors, such as education, health, agriculture and trade, urban planning and transport. The summary also describes how to design policies and programs to prevent obesity and how to monitor progress, and calls for specific action by stakeholders: not only government sectors but also the private sector - including food manufacturers, advertisers and traders - and professional consumers' and international and intergovernmental organizations such as the European Union.