20000131

1.2bn people

are malnourished

in 3rd World

ISLAMABAD: According to UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 1.2 billion people, from the developing countries, across the globe are malnourished or getting just one time meal a day.

According to the World Health Organisation estimates, about half of the world's 6 billion people in rich and poor countries alike are poorly nourished.

These include 1.2 billion hungary people whose diets lack calories and another 1.2 billion people who eat too much. Overall, about 2 million people appear adequately fed but are debilitated or prone to illnesses because of a lack of essential vitamins and minerals.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that roughly one in five people in developing countries is chronically hungary.

A large proportion of humanity has shifted from a traditional diet dominated by grains and vegetables to one heavy in fats and sugars. Rising incomes, urban migration, more sedentary lifestyles and women working outside the home have pushed people toward prepared foods that are often low in nutritional value and high in calories.

A frequent result is overeating, which occurs even in developing countries.

Studies have linked poor diets to half of all the world's diseases, including heart disease, cancer and adult-onset diabetes.

Even if enough calories are taken in, people can lack micronutrients, such as iron, iodine and vitamins which again lead to a number of diseases. Thus, no country in the world, neither developed nor developing states, is safe from these ailments.ÑAPP