Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children : Shared by Tom McDermott

Feeding Profit

UNICEF – September 10, 2025
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Summary
UNICEF’s Child Nutrition Report 2025 warns that obesity has now overtaken underweight as the most common form of malnutrition among school-aged children and adolescents worldwide.

Drawing on data from over 190 countries, the report finds that while underweight has declined from 13% in 2000 to 9.2% today, obesity rates have tripled to 9.4%, affecting 188 million children. In total, 1 in 5 children aged 5–19 (391 million) are overweight, and 1 in 10 (188 million) obese, placing them at risk of serious lifelong disease. The trend is driven largely by unhealthy food environments dominated by ultra-processed and fast foods. UNICEF calls for urgent action to regulate food marketing, improve access to nutritious diets, and protect children from predatory industry practices.

Quotes

• “When we talk about malnutrition, we are no longer just talking about underweight children. Obesity is a growing concern that can impact the health and development of children.” – Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director

• “Nutritious and affordable food must be available to every child … We urgently need policies that support parents and caretakers to access healthy foods for their children.” – Catherine Russell

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Do you want me to also create a short bullet-point digest of the five main UNICEF policy recommendations (labeling and marketing restrictions, junk food bans in schools, social protection, etc.) for easy use in News & Views?