Junk food leads to more children being obese – UNICEF

Cheap ultra-processed food behind rise in overweight children, with one in 10 now obese globally, says Unicef.

More children around the world are obese than underweight for the first time, according to a UN report that warns ultra-processed junk food is overwhelming childhood diets.

There are 188 million teenagers and school-age children with obesity – one in 10 – Unicef said, affecting health and development and bringing a risk of life-threatening diseases.

Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN agency for children, said: “When we talk about malnutrition, we are no longer just talking about underweight children.

“Obesity is a growing concern. Ultra-processed food [UPF] is increasingly replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a time when nutrition plays a critical role in children’s growth, cognitive development and mental health.”

While 9.2% of five to 19-year-olds worldwide are underweight, 9.4% are considered obese, the report found. In 2000, nearly 13% were underweight and just 3% were obese.

Obesity has overtaken being underweight as the more prevalent form of malnutrition in all regions of the world except sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, and is a problem even in countries with high numbers of children suffering from wasting or stunting due to a lack of food.

The report, Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children, used data from more than 190 countries and sources including Unicef, the World Health Organization and the World Bank.

It revealed that one in five of those aged between five and 19 are overweight, with a growing proportion of those 291 million individuals falling into the obese category: 42% in 2022, up from 30% in 2000.

Obesity was highest in Pacific Island countries, where there has been “a shift from traditional diets to cheap, energy-dense, imported food”, the report found. In Niue, 38% of five to 19-year-olds are obese, and the figure is 37% in the Cook Islands. Rates were also high in richer countries, such as Chile (27%), the US (21%) and the United Arab Emirates (21%).

In the UK, the percentage of overweight children increased from 29% in 2000 to 30% in 2022, while the percentage with obesity rose from 9% to 11%.

The steepest rise in numbers of overweight schoolchildren and teenagers was in low- and middle-income countries, where the number has more than doubled since 2000, amid a corresponding rapid expansion of “modern retail outlets, online grocery stores and food delivery apps”, with UPFs being “relatively cheaper than fresh or minimally processed nutritious foods”.

Childhood obesity has been linked to higher risks of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers in later life.

There is growing international concern about the damaging health impacts of UPFs, which include cereals, biscuits and cakes, fizzy drinks and ready meals, which have been through industrial processes and include additives such as colours, emulsifiers and flavours, and can be high in added sugar, fat or salt.

UPFs “dominate shops and schools”, the report warned, and are heavily promoted to young people and parents digitally, creating an environment where they are hard to avoid, rather than a matter of personal choice.