PRESS BRIEFING ON UN NUTRITION REPORT

PRESS BRIEFING ON UN NUTRITION REPORT

Improvements in nutrition had failed to keep up as the world grew richer over the last 20 years, Catherine Bertini, Under-Secretary-General for Management, said at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

Launching the fifth report of the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition, entitled “Nutrition for Improved development Outcomes”, she said global gross domestic product had risen 100 per cent during that period, while the numbers of underweight pre-school children had decreased by only 20 per cent.

That scandalous situation showed that there must be a much greater capacity on the part of the nutrition community to aggressively impact public policy, said Ms. Bertini, who was accompanied by Arne Oshaug, Chairman of the Committee’s Bilateral Partners Group, and Lawrence Haddad of the International Food Policy Research Institute.

She said that with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa, the world had made steady progress on nutritional issues, particularly in relation to underweight pre-school children.  Latin America was on target to meet the Millennium Development Goals target in the nutrition area and Asia was close.  The trend in some African countries was in the right direction, but in others it clearly was not.

The establishment of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the reduction of conflict in the region gave reason for some optimism, she said.  However, sub-Saharan Africa’s overall movement was not towards achieving the Millennium targets.

She said the report also highlighted the importance of including nutrition and nutrition-related programmes into the wider development process.  Incorporating nutrition-related programmes could increase the capacity and resources available in other development successes.

Asked how the situation in sub-Saharan Africa differed from a decade ago, Mr. Haddad replied that every indicator -- poverty, food insecurity, hunger and nutrition –- showed that with some notable exceptions, the region had been going in the wrong direction for the last 10 years.  Micronutrient status, maternal nutrition status, shorter children, thinner children, low birth weight and all the other indicators of malnutrition showed Africa was heading in the wrong direction, he added.

Another correspondent asked whether there was any indication that the shift towards free-market economies had had a negative overall impact on nutrition.

Mr. Haddad noted that economic growth did not always follow greater liberalization, adding that it was a necessary, but not a sufficient reason.  There was a very loose relationship between economic growth and reductions in child malnutrition.

Responding to another question, Mr. Oshaug said that one solution was to change perceptions of nutrition, so that it was viewed not as a cost, but as an investment in each country’s own population.

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