28 March 2016: The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a report on children’s nutrition in Southeast Asia, finding that several countries in the region face “twin crises” of childhood obesity and undernutrition. The causes of overweight and undernutrition are intertwined, the report explains, as a child whose growth was stunted in early childhood is at great risk of becoming overweight later in life.

In Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, a significant and rising proportion of the child population is either obese or stunted. There are 17 million stunted children in the ASEAN region, of whom three-quarters live in Indonesia or the Philippines. Lao PDR has the highest proportion of stunted children; 44% of all children in the country are stunted.

The rising incidence of both obesity and stunting in children is linked to the economic gains of the past decade, the authors indicate. They call on governments in the region to: regulate the marketing of junk food and sugary drinks to children, and restrict their availability in schools; improve infant and child feeding practices; treat acutely malnourished children; keep girls in school; map the situation of children in areas that are most at risk of poverty and malnutrition; and direct more funds towards solutions.

The report also highlights the impact of childhood malnutrition on Gross Domestic Product (GDP), through reduction of parents’ productivity, children’s predisposition to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) later in life, such as diabetes, and possible disability. The authors stress that every dollar spent on nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life saves at least US$45 in later interventions, and potentially as much as US$166.

The report has been issued in two volumes. In the foreword, Lê Lương Minh, ASEAN Secretary-General, said the Association is developing an action plan to improve health outcomes in the region, and is also seeking to further enhance its monitoring and evaluation capabilities. He noted the value of the report in tracking the progress of food and nutrition security at the regional and national levels.

UNICEF and the EU have completed a five-year partnership to tackle nutrition issues in five Asian countries: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Nepal, the Philippines and Indonesia. [UN Press Release] [UNICEF Press Release] [Publication: Regional Report on Nutrition Security in ASEAN Vol. I] [Publication: Regional Report on Nutrition Security in ASEAN Vol. II]