Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUNICEF / CHILDREN NUTRITION REPORT
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UNICEF / CHILDREN NUTRITION REPORT
TRT: 02:02
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
2023 INDIA
1. Med shot, teenage girl walks through a small market surrounded by ultra-processed products
2023, SANTIAGO, CHILE
2. Close up, candies with promotional price sign on display at market
3. Med shot, teenage boy watches junk food advertisements on TV
2024, IRAQ
4. Various shots, girl watches food videos on mobile phone
2023, SANTIAGO, CHILE
5. Med shot, teenage boy cooks healthy meal with his mother,
6. Close up, female hands shred cabbage and place it in container
2023, MALDIVES
7. Close up, ultra-processed foods being sold, market
8. Close up, foods high in sodium and sugar being sold, shop
9. Various shots, child eating instant noodles
2024, IRAQ
10. Wide shot, moving street view, Qushtapa refugee camp
11. Wide up, kids playing, Qushtapa refugee camp
12. Close shot, kids snacking on ultra-processed food
13. Med shot, street ads of foods high in sugar
14. Med shot, woman picks vegetables, market
2023, SOUTH AFRICA
15. Med shot, child stands in front of restaurant displaying junk food advertisements
16. Wide shot, two teenage boys eating junk food and drinking soda, food court
2024, UGANDA
17. Wide shot, children buy snacks during their class break
18. Close up, children hold cash waiting to pay for deep-fried snacks, school
19. Close up, woman prepares unhealthy snack on hot surface
20. Med shot, child eats snack during their class break
21. Med shot, mother and children purchase vegetables street market
22. Close up, mother washes vegetables while cooking at home
According to UNICEF, obesity exceeds underweight for the first time among school-age children and adolescents globally.
One in 10 children worldwide is living with obesity.
Exposure to the marketing of ultra-processed foods is found to be widespread.
Obesity surpassed underweight as the more prevalent form of malnutrition this year, affecting 1 in 10 – or 188 million – school-aged children and adolescents, and placing them at risk of life-threatening disease, UNICEF warned in a new report today.
Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children draws on data from over 190 countries and finds the prevalence of underweight among children aged 5-19 has declined since 2000, from nearly 13 percent to 9.2 percent, while obesity rates have increased from 3 per cent to 9.4 percent.
Obesity now exceeds underweight in all regions of the world, except sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
According to the findings, several Pacific Island countries have the highest prevalence of obesity globally, including 38 percent of 5 to 19-year-olds in Niue, 37 per cent in Cook Islands, and 33 percent in Nauru.
These levels – which have all doubled since 2000 – are largely driven by a shift from traditional diets to cheap, energy-dense, imported foods.
Meanwhile, many high-income countries continue to have high levels of obesity, for example 27 percent of 5 to 19-year-olds in Chile are living with obesity, 21 percent in the United States, and 21 percent in the United Arab Emirates.
While undernutrition – such as wasting and stunting – remains a significant concern among children under 5 in most low- and middle-income countries, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing among school aged children and adolescents.
According to the latest available data, 1 in 5 children and adolescents aged 5-19 globally – or 391 million – are overweight, with a large proportion of them now classified as living with obesity.
Children are considered overweight when they are significantly heavier than what is healthy for their age, sex and height.
Obesity is a severe form of overweight and leads to a higher risk of developing insulin resistance and high blood pressure, as well as life-threatening diseases later in life, including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.
The report warns that ultra-processed and fast foods – high in sugar, refined starch, salt, unhealthy fats and additives – are shaping children’s diets through unhealthy food environments, rather than personal choice.
These products dominate shops and schools, while digital marketing gives the food and beverage industry powerful access to young audiences.
Without interventions to prevent childhood overweight and obesity, countries could face lifetime health and economic impacts exceeding, for example, US$210 billion in Peru, due to obesity-related health issues.
By 2035, the global economic impact of overweight and obesity is expected to surpass US$4 trillion annually.
The report highlights positive steps governments have taken. For example, in Mexico – a country facing a high prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity, and where sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods account for 40 percent of children’s daily calories, the government recently banned the sale and distribution of ultra-processed foods and items high in salt, sugar and fat in public schools – positively impacting food environments for over 34 million children.
To transform food environments and ensure children have access to nutritious diets, UNICEF is calling on governments, civil society, and partners to urgently:
Implement comprehensive mandatory policies to improve children’s food environments, including food labelling, food marketing restrictions, and food taxes and subsidies.
Implement social and behaviour change initiatives that empower families and communities to demand healthier food environments.
Ban the provision or sale of ultra-processed and junk foods in schools and prohibit food marketing and sponsorship in schools.
Establish strong safeguards to protect public policy processes from interference by the ultra-processed food industry.
Strengthen social protection programmes to address income poverty and improve financial access to nutritious diets for vulnerable families.
