Many people across the world suffer from 'hidden hunger' where they get enough calories but not enough nutrients, reports CLIFFORD COONANon a conference in Beijing
NUTRITION EXPERTS from around the world gathered in Beijing recently to discuss ways of dealing with one of the greatest threats to people living a healthy and productive life, a situation called hidden hunger.
Hidden hunger describes the situation where people get enough calories to live but not the right mix of vitamins and minerals they need to lead a healthy and productive life. It affects more than two billion people worldwide.
“It’s an extremely important issue and we are very concerned about hidden hunger,” says Martin Bloem of the United Nations World Food Programme, who was one of the experts who gathered in the Chinese capital late last month for the Micronutrient Forum, a scientific gathering that heard presentations from many eminent nutritionists on the value and efficacy of a variety of mineral and vitamin supplements.
Hidden hunger’s consequences can be disastrous, particularly in under-developed and developing countries. It causes developmental problems for children, both mental and physical, trapping them in poverty by making them learn and grow less well, which in turn makes them less productive, more prone to developing chronic diseases such as cancer, stroke and diabetes when they are older, and, perversely, they are much more likely to be obese in later life.
If hidden hunger is not addressed when the child is in the womb, the evidence shows that by the time it has reached the age of two its growth is likely to be stunted and this can have long-term implications.
“Doing something about it in the first months, delivering the right foods then, is very important,” says Bloem.
“It’s always difficult to explain that not growing optimally is very important. There is a lack of awareness, and the emphasis tends to be on acute malnutrition, but a large percentage of the population in India and Bangladesh is chronically undernourished,” he says.
The forum was also keen to ensure the economic crisis does not compound the problem of hidden hunger by encouraging families to cut back on meat, vegetables, eggs and other nutrition rich food and move towards lower cost and less nutritious foods such as milled rice.
“The cost of giving every child in the world the right start is not very high. This is a global challenge and I’m optimistic when I see the US government is committing to this even in the economic crisis,” says Bloem.
A typical form of hidden hunger is iron deficiency. A lack of this key mineral causes anaemia, which badly affects children and pregnant women.
Globally, some 19 million children a year are born with impaired mental capacity and 40 per cent of women of childbearing age suffer iron deficiency, causing at least 60,000 childbirth deaths a year.
Hidden hunger also affects people’s ability to fight infection.
The Copenhagen Convention has identified micronutrient intervention programmes as the single most cost-effective way of tackling some of the world’s most pressing problems.
Crucially, this year’s forum also discussed how the private sector can help to lead the fight against hidden hunger. Among the companies attending were Unilever, PepsiCo, South Africa’s Tiger Brands, China’s Interflour and the Dutch Life Sciences and Materials group DSM.
According to Jiang Weiming, president of DSM China, “Micronutrition is a big concept. We felt that our major contribution could be to help hidden hunger.
“We believe that the financial crisis will end sometime, but this human crisis will continue, and that’s our motivation.”
DSM’s fortified rice product, known as NutriRice, is central to efforts to combat hidden hunger in China, and DSM aims to address nutrition problems by tailoring NutriRice to preferred regional rice shapes and tastes.
DSM was rewarded for its innovative efforts in rice fortification with the 2008 award from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF).
“This is a gathering of warm-hearted people. We’re very happy the Communist Party of China is supporting the initiative and I hope the conference contributes to understanding hidden hunger,” says Jiang.
Chinese food is traditionally very balanced, but a huge proportion of the population doesn’t get to eat the balanced version.
“There is a still a huge population that is not there. What we try to do is to demonstrate to a migrant workers school. We tell children about rice, and oil and soya sauce, and how fortifying those basic foodstuffs can greatly improve their deficiencies,” says Jiang.
DSM data shows that its programme of rice and flour fortification, and specific projects such as the Nutrition Intervention project with CDC (Chinese Center of Disease Control and Prevention) in Beijing Dandelion Middle School, have made significant advances in combating hidden hunger.
The anaemia rate among the children dropped from 13.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent, while vitamin B1 deficiency reduced from 24.8 to 4.5 per cent.
There was also evidence of increased aerobic and physical strength among the students and significantly improved cognitive and learning performance.
The chairman of the Micronutrient Forum, Al Sommer from John Hopkins University, welcomes the co-operation with the private sector.
“I am delighted to see the private sector is increasing its commitment to the eradication of hidden hunger.
“All of the scientists, nutritionists, programme delivery agencies and campaigners that make up the forum recognise the need for all actors to play their part to address an issue that no-one can solve alone,” Sommer says.
The problem can be resolved, and quickly. During the second World War, many draftees in Scotland were rejected because they were too short, lacking the right nutrition, which seems impossible nowadays.
His own area is vitamin A deficiency and he says by raising awareness of the fact that vitamin A deficiency was killing a million children a year, the issue went from zero visibility to 50 countries around the world with vitamin A supplement programmes.
“It became a global priority, and has stimulated other issues – iron, iodine, B12, folic acid. For example, 30 per cent of the world is not getting the iodine it needs. Vitamin A deficiency is relatively simple, but what do you do about folic acid, or vitamin B12, needed on a daily basis?” he says.
The value of the Beijing forum was to bring scientists and policymakers together to find out what kind of issues need to be addressed, says Sommer.