More than 131 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean cannot afford to buy healthy food , according to a new United Nations (UN) report. The document points out that 22.5% of this population does not have access to a healthy diet. While in South America this number reaches 18.4%, in the Caribbean it reaches 52%.
The data for the year 2020 represents an increase of 8 million compared to the previous year. The analysis points to the higher average daily cost of healthy diets in Latin America and the Caribbean compared to the rest of the world’s regions, which amounts to around BRL 18 in South America and BRL 21 in Caribe.
The UN points out that the lack of accessibility to a healthy diet observed throughout the region is associated with different socioeconomic and nutritional indicators. The report presents a clear relationship between the inability to afford a healthy diet and variables such as a country’s income level, the incidence of poverty and the level of inequality.
The report also reveals that the increase in international food prices experienced since 2020, exacerbated after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, and a regional increase in food inflation above the general level, have increased difficulties for people to access a healthy diet. .
The document also includes evidence-based recommendations and an analysis of policies already in place to improve the availability and affordability of nutritious food, particularly in order to support the most vulnerable people and low-income families, who spend a greater proportion of their budget. in food.
“There is no individual policy that can independently solve this problem. National and regional coordination mechanisms need to be strengthened to respond to hunger and malnutrition,” said Mario Lubetkin, Assistant Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean .
To contribute to the accessibility of healthy diets, it is necessary to create incentives for the diversification of the production of nutritious foods destined mainly to family agriculture and small producers, to take measures for the transparency of the prices of these foods in the markets and in the trade, and actions such as transfers of money and improvement of school menus
Mario Lubetkin, FAO Assistant Director
Trade and market policies can play a key role in improving food and nutrition security. Greater transparency and efficiency improve interregional agri-food trade, replacing uncertainty with market predictability and stability.
“We are talking about the region in the world with the most expensive healthy diet, which particularly affects vulnerable populations – small farmers, rural women and indigenous and Afro-descendant populations – who allocate a greater percentage of their income to the purchase of food”, said the director International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Rossana Polastri.
She argues that, to reverse this situation, it is necessary to promote innovative solutions with the aim of diversifying production and increasing the supply of healthy foods.
The report also describes how some nutrition-sensitive social protection programs have worked to support the diets of the most vulnerable population, particularly in times of crisis.
“Food insecurity will continue to rise due to the food and fuel price crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine and the fallout from COVID-19,” said Lola Castro, Regional Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP). “We must act now, but how can we do that? Supporting governments to expand social safety nets as the pandemic has once again demonstrated that social protection is helpful in improving the accessibility of a healthy diet, preventing crises like this from hitting affected populations even further.”
Other food policies, such as nutrition labelling, subsidies for nutritious foods, and taxation of unhealthy or non-nutritious foods that do not contribute to healthy diets. Experts point out that actions can improve the affordability of healthy diets, prevent debilitating conditions and diseases related to overweight and obesity.
We must redouble our efforts to fight malnutrition in all its forms, promoting public policies to create healthy eating environments, eliminate industrially produced trans fats, implement frontal warning labels, regulate the advertising of unhealthy foods, establish taxes on sugary drinks, support healthy eating and physical activity in schools
Carissa F. Etienne, Director of the Pan American Health Organization
For Carissa, it is necessary to understand the factors that determine bad eating practices in order to find solutions for access to healthy foods. For example, countries with higher levels of poverty and inequality tend to have more significant difficulties in accessing a healthy diet, which is directly associated with a higher prevalence of hunger, chronic malnutrition in boys and girls, and anemia in women aged 15 to 49 years.
“For children to grow up healthy, it is not only urgent to ensure the availability of nutritious food, but it is also necessary to develop public policies that guarantee adequate nutrition, in addition to nutritional advice, focused on actions for the most vulnerable populations”, said Garry Conelly, regional director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for Latin America and the Caribbean.
worrying outlook
The UN report points out challenges in the socioeconomic scenario of Latin America and the Caribbean. The number of hungry people in the region continues to increase. The most affected population groups are children under five and women, who suffer a higher prevalence of food insecurity than men.
Between 2019 and 2021, the hunger figure in the region increased by 13.2 million, reaching 56.5 million people in 2021. The biggest increase was in South America, reaching an additional 11 million people. Between 2019 and 2021, hunger reached a prevalence of 7.9% in South America, 8.4% in Mesoamerica, and 16.4% in the Caribbean.
In 2021, 40.6% of the regional population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to 29.3% worldwide. Severe food insecurity was also more frequent in the region (14.2%) than in the world (11.7%).
Other numbers presented in the report indicate that the region registers an important and positive evolution in relation to the prevalence of chronic malnutrition in children under five years of age. In 2020, this number was 11.3% in Latin America and the Caribbean, approximately ten percentage points below the world average. However, 3.9 million children under five years of age are overweight.
Source: CNN Brasil
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