World Food Policy Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2015 | Page 103

World Food Policy

paper. Over the coming three issues,
WFP would be delighted to gather
feedback on the arguments contained in
the IUHPE Position Paper and to solicit
further debate regarding (a) the capacity
of different types of food system to
provide food security now and into the
future; (b) which actors and what factors
are responsible for any blockages and
solutions; and (c) ideas for the evolution
of appropriate global and national food
system governance mechanisms going
forward.
The problem being addressed in the
Food Systems Position Paper: multiple
forces within and outside the food
system are undermining global food
and nutrition security

WHO (2013), almost two thirds of the
world’s population live in countries where
illnesses directly related to overweight
and obesity kill more people than
illnesses related to being underweight.
Furthermore, micro-nutrient deficiencies
can occur in people who are underweight,
overweight, as well as those of healthy
weight. Inadequate iron intake results
in iron-deficiency anemia, the most
common micro-nutrient deficiency,
affecting 2 billion people worldwide; and
for this reason, the WHO claims anemia
to be a major global epidemic (WHO nd).
1.2

The health and social equity
issues arising from the dominant food
system model—a food system based on
I - The magnitude of food insecu- industrial-scale production, corporate
rity1 and related health problems control, and international trade—are
considerable.
1.1

F

1.2.1

ood insecurity, or malnourishment,
takes three main forms: undernutrition, over-nutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies. Underweight2 affects
close to 1 billion people, with a further 1.4
billion adults, 20 years and older, classified
as overweight or obese3. According to the

While the global food system
produces sufficient calories to meet
the energy requirements of the current
population, there is an uneven distribution
of adequate micro-nutrients and food
considered safe from a toxicological

1

The terms “food insecurity”, “poor nutrition”, and malnutrition are often used interchangeably and
can be defined narrowly or broadly. The narrow definition refers to insufficient calories or food energy
to maintain health (also defined as hunger). The broader definition, and the one adopted in this paper,
refers to insufficient calories/food energy, an abundance of calories/food energy, and micro-nutrient deficiencies (lack of basic vitamins and minerals). The WHO considers both under-nutrition and over-nutrition to be conditions of food insecurity.
2
Underweight is the most common indicator of under-nutrition, and it refers to abnormal or insufficient fat accumulation so as to impair health.
3
Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health,
resulting in a body mass index of equal to or greater than 25 kg/m2 (overweight) and 30 kg/m2 (obese)
(WHO 2013).
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