Epidemiology of malnutrition

There were 795 million undernourished people in the world in 2014, a decrease of 216 million since 1990, despite the fact that the world already produces enough food to feed everyone—7 billion people—and could feed more than that—12 billion people.

The number of undernourished people (million) in 2010–2012 and 2014–2016 (projected). According to the FAO, these countries had 5 million or more undernourished people in 2001–2003 and in 2005–2007.

Note: This table measures "undernourishment", as defined by FAO, and represents the number of people consuming (on average for years 2010 to 2012) less than the minimum amount of food energy (measured in kilocalories per capita per day) necessary for the average person to stay in good health while performing light physical activity. It is a conservative indicator that does not take into account the extra needs of people performing extraneous physical activity, nor seasonal variations in food consumption or other sources of variability such as inter-individual differences in energy requirements. Malnutrition and undernourishment are cumulative or average situations, and not the work of a single day's food intake (or lack thereof). This table does not represent the number of people who "went to bed hungry today."

The below is a list of countries by percentage of population with undernourishment, as defined by the United Nations World Food Programme and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in its "The State of Food Insecurity in the World" 2009 report.

Malnutrition rates in Iraq had risen from 19% before the US-led invasion to a national average of 28% four years later. By 2010, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, only 8% were malnourished. (See data above.)

According to the Global Hunger Index, South Asia (also known as the Indian Subcontinent) has the highest child malnutrition rate of world's regions.India, a largely vegetarian country and second largest country in the world by population, contributes most number in malnutrition in the region.The 2006 report mentioned that "the low status of women in South Asian countries and their lack of nutritional knowledge are important determinants of high prevalence of underweight children in the region" and was concerned that South Asia has "inadequate feeding and caring practices for young children".

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