At medical school, if we focus on nutrition it would be in a developed setting but nutrition is a key area of concern globally. In 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were established by the UN with specific targets aimed at ending poverty and protecting the planet by 2030 – nutrition remains key to achieving many of these goals.[1]

A growing concern globally, especially in South East Asia is the double burden of malnutrition characterised, by the coexistence of undernutrition, along with obesity or diet-related non communicable diseases, largely due to changes in diet composition to more processed foods regarded as the ‘Nutrition Transition’.[2] Malnutrition needs to be addressed in order for SDG 2, which aims to ‘end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition globally’ to be achieved.[3]

Diet related non – communicable diseases, such as Diabetes are very relatable to the UK; this non communicable disease is now dramatically increasing in prevalence in in low, and particularly middle-income countries where previously healthcare pressures have been predominantly focussed on tackling infectious disease, this adds a new dimension to health management, requiring a greater emphasis on primary, secondary prevention and continued health monitoring.

This gives a little introduction into nutrition for global health with more blog posts to follow!

 References:

2.Binns C, Kyung Lee M, Yun Low W, Zerfas A. The Role of Public Health Nutrition in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the Asia Pacific Region. Asia Pacific J Public Heal [Internet]. 2017 [cited 2019 Nov 14];29(7):617–24. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/1010539517736441

3.WHO | 2. The double burden of diseases in [Internet]. [cited 2019 Nov 14]. Available from: https://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/2_background/en/index1.html

4.Goal 2: Zero Hunger – United Nations Sustainable Development [Internet]. [cited 2019 Nov 14]. Available from: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/#tab-6f500e1aa274b23d96d