A healthy diet is urgently needed for the region. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has published its latest report: The State of Food and Nutrition Security in the World 2022.
Felipe Roa-Clavijo, professor at the Alberto Lleras Camargo School of Government at Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) analyzes the results.
Three important conclusions for the region were highlighted in this last report, among which the following stand out: that food insecurity has increased; people in Latin America and the Caribbean find it difficult to eat a healthy diet; And obesity continues to rise.
The professor states that by 2022, around 56 million people will be in a situation of hunger and 267 million, that is, 40% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean, in a situation of moderate or severe food insecurity.
Ensuring a healthy diet based on agro-food systems
According to the food safety expert, “No single sector can solve these problems individually or independently. We need to have an approach from agrifood systems”.
The above refers to the need to address production, commercialization and consumption in integral policies that can face the complexity of the challenges presented by the report and the recommendation, according to Roa-Clavijo, is to guarantee the right to food in the region,Helping the poorest and most marginalized people to have access to these foods, either through direct support, financial support, among others“, it says.
Other concerns have to do with the 136 million people who do not have access to healthy food.
Remembering that a healthy diet should have enough nutrients and micronutrients for a person to have a healthy life. In Latin America, a healthy diet can cost around US$3.84 a day.
The third message left by the report is that obesity is on the rise and has increased in recent years. Currently, 24% of the population is obese. “This is a number that has grown exponentially in all countries in the region in recent years.yes,” he says.