War, Lack of Democracy and Urbanisation Contribute to Double Burden of Malnutrition in Adolescents in Developing Countries

Press release

Embargoed till 5.05am UK time, Wednesday 27 June 2018

War, lack of democracy and urbanisation contribute to double burden of malnutrition in adolescents in developing countries

• Macro-level influences are blamed in new study
• Influences include war, lack of democracy, food insecurity, urbanisation & economic growth
• Effects on health include stunting, obesity and thinness
• Researchers call for action to be taken

Newswise — A new study from the University of Warwick blames macro-level factors for the double burden of malnutrition among adolescents in developing countries.

The double burden of malnutrition refers to the coexistence of undernutrition along with overweight and obesity, or diet-related noncommunicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

The study The double burden of malnutrition among adolescents: analysis of data from the Global School‐Based Student Health and Health Behaviour in School‐Aged Children Surveys in 57 low‐income and middle‐income countries suggests that factors including war, lack of democracy, food insecurity, urbanisation and economic growth are to blame.

The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) and was led by Dr Rishi Caleyachetty, Assistant Professor, Warwick Medical School.

His team found that the burden of double malnutrition is shockingly common and the researchers are now calling on governments and NGOs to identify context-specific issues and design and implement policies and interventions to reduce adolescent malnutrition accordingly.

The study set out to quantify the magnitude of the double burden of malnutrition among adolescents and explain the varying burden of adolescent malnutrition across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Adolescence is a period for growth and development, with higher nutritional demands placing adolescents at greater risk of malnutrition.

They used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/World Health Organisation (WHO) Global School-Based Student Health Survey and WHO Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children surveys done in 57 LMICs between 2003-2013, comprising 129,276 adolescents aged 12-15 years. They examined the burden of stunting, thinness, overweight or obesity, and concurrent stunting and overweight or obesity. They then linked nutritional data to international databases including the World Bank, Center for Systemic Peace, Uppsala Conflict Data Program, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

They found that across the 57 LMICs, 10.2% of the adolescents were stunted and 5.5% were thin. The prevalence of overweight or obesity was much higher at more than a fifth of the adolescents (21.4%). The prevalence of concurrent stunting and overweight or obesity was 2.0%. Between 38.4%-58.7% of the variance in adolescent malnutrition was explained by macro-level contextual factors.

Dr Caleyachetty said: “The majority of adolescents live in LMICs but the global health community has largely neglected the health needs of this population.  At the population level, macro-level contextual factors such as war, lack of democracy, food insecurity, urbanisation and economic growth partly explain the variation in the double burden of malnutrition among adolescents across LMICs.

“The global health community will have to adapt their traditional response to the double burden of malnutrition in order to provide optimal interventions for adolescents.”

ENDS

For more information contact Nicola Jones, Media Relations Manager, University of Warwick [email protected] or 07920531221

Notes to Editors

Thinness was defined as BMI-for-age <2 standard deviations (SDs) below the WHO Growth Reference median.

The double burden of malnutrition among adolescents: analysis of data from the Global School-Based Student Health and Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Surveys in 57 low-income and middle-income countries published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN)

Authors:

Rishi Caleyachetty: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Gibbet Hill Road, Coventry, UK; Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK

GN Thomas^; Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK

Andre P Kengne: South African Medical Research Council and University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia

Justin B Echouffo-Tcheugui^: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Samantha Schilsky: George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington DC, USA

Juneida Khodabocus: University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK

Ricardo Uauy^: University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, UK^: Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile; Division of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile^: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom