When you are asked to picture a malnourished child, 20 years ago you would've thought of a dangerously underweight child who didn't get enough to eat. Nowadays overweight and obese children are also included into this category. Globally, at least half of all children under five suffer from hidden hunger: a lack of essential nutrients that often goes unnoticed until it’s too late.
Globalization and urbanization have both caused big shifts in how and what we eat. Obesity and overweight numbers are more prevalent among city dwellers. This all leads to higher numbers of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. By 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s adolescents will live in cities, more exposed to the marketing of unhealthy foods and more vulnerable to diet-related diseases than ever before.
More and more women are joining the job market, making up nearly 40 per cent of the world’s formal labor force. Yet, almost everywhere, mothers remain responsible for most child feeding and care. They often receive little support from families, employers or society at large. This leaves too many mothers to face the impossible choice of feeding their children well or earning a steady income.
Climate change and its effects impact rural families. Families that rely on agriculture to feed themselves have found it more and more difficult to maintain proper food- with drought alone causing 80 per cent of damage. This disruption of food production by climate change forces these rural families to relocate into urban areas; where again processed foods and sedentary lifestyles are commonplace.
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