THE world has more fat than starving children for the first time, says kids’ charity Unicef.
Obesity rates have rocketed this century while the number of malnourished youngsters and teenagers has dropped.
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The proportion of five to 19-year-olds rated dangerously overweight has more than tripled from three per cent to 9.4 per cent since 2000.
It means one child in every ten globally is obese. In Britain, the rate is higher at one in seven.
The highest rate is in the Pacific Islands, at one in three.
In comparison, the underweight rate has fallen from 13 to 9.2 per cent in the last 25 years, data from 190 countries reveals.
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Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are the only parts of the world where kids are more likely to be starving than over-fed.
Catherine Russell, director of New York-based Unicef, said: “When we talk about malnutrition, we’re no longer just talking about underweight children. Obesity is a growing concern that can impact health and development.
“Ultra-processed food is increasingly replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a time when nutrition plays a critical role in children’s growth, brain development and mental health.”
She said countries must improve access to healthy food.
Professor Chris van Tulleken, a UK doctor and food campaigner, said: “We now face a generation of children growing up malnourished.
“Obesity is not a failure of parents or children, it’s the result of toxic food environments dominated by ultra-processed foods designed and marketed for profit.”
Last year, the World Health Organisation said the global obesity figure had topped one billion for the first time, with 879million adults and 159million youngsters.
