Fragile and conflict affected situations - Prevalence of undernourishment (% of population)

Prevalence of undernourishment (% of population) in Fragile and conflict affected situations was 22.40 as of 2019. Its highest value over the past 18 years was 27.86 in 2001, while its lowest value was 19.41 in 2015.

Definition: Population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption (also referred to as prevalence of undernourishment) shows the percentage of the population whose food intake is insufficient to meet dietary energy requirements continuously. Data showing as 5 may signify a prevalence of undernourishment below 5%.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (http://www.fao.org/publications/en/).

See also:

Year Value
2001 27.86
2002 26.93
2003 26.07
2004 24.86
2005 23.84
2006 22.91
2007 21.99
2008 21.19
2009 20.33
2010 20.22
2011 20.24
2012 20.75
2013 20.01
2014 19.55
2015 19.41
2016 19.75
2017 20.30
2018 20.59
2019 22.40

Development Relevance: Good nutrition is the cornerstone for survival, health and development. Well-nourished children perform better in school, grow into healthy adults and in turn give their children a better start in life. Well-nourished women face fewer risks during pregnancy and childbirth, and their children set off on firmer developmental paths, both physically and mentally (UNICEF www.childinfo.org).

Limitations and Exceptions: From a policy and program standpoint, this measure has its limits. First, food insecurity exists even where food availability is not a problem because of inadequate access of poor households to food. Second, food insecurity is an individual or household phenomenon, and the average food available to each person, even corrected for possible effects of low income, is not a good predictor of food insecurity among the population. And third, nutrition security is determined not only by food security but also by the quality of care of mothers and children and the quality of the household's health environment (Smith and Haddad 2000).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Data on undernourishment are from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and measure food deprivation based on average food available for human consumption per person, the level of inequality in access to food, and the minimum calories required for an average person.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Health Indicators

Sub-Topic: Nutrition