By Albert Mwangeka
As the world gathers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and global malnutrition cases soar leaders, Olympians and celebrity chefs have taken a vow to fight malnutrition and make the world a healthy place by 2030.
Hosted by the governments of Brazil, United Kingdom and Japan, the Nutrition For Growth event hosted on Thursday called for leaders from around the globe commit more financially in scaling up nutrition strategies.
A statement sent to newsrooms stated , participants called for a high-level, head-of-state pledging moment for nutrition in 2017.
“The threat of malnutrition including undernutrition, stunting, overweight and obesity has never been more urgent. One in three people worldwide suffer from some form of malnutrition. Nearly half of children who die before the age of five do so because they are malnourished. Of those that survive, nearly one in four around 160 million children globally, suffer from lifelong effects of stunted growth and impaired development. And nearly 41 million children worldwide are overweight or obese,” said a press statement from Global Health Strategies.
Kenyan Olympian distance runner and human rights activist, Tegla Loroupe, also said that growing up there were many days that she went hungry.
“As an athlete who did not have good nutrition, I had a challenge. Sports helped me to overcome it,” she said.
“When I was a child living in a slum in Rio, there was no food when I opened the fridge. Sports gave me an opportunity to overcome this and succeed. We should give this same opportunity to all children, to ensure that they reach their full development in life,” said Brazilian sprinter and four-time Olympian, Robson Caetano.
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, a longtime advocate for healthy diets expressed the need to put an end to obesity and undernourishment.
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, there is importance in upholding high nutrition standards as stunted children today could lead to stunted economies in the future.
“Sub-Saharan Africa alone loses 25 billion dollars a year because of poor nutrition. At a continental level, Africa loses about 11 percent of its GDP because of poor nutrition. The evidence is very clear boosting nutrition will boost economies,” Adesina noted.
According to the World Bank , an additional nutrition investment of $2.2 billion per year over the next 10 years could save 2.2 million lives and reduce the number of stunted children by 50 million.
