Global Patterns: Nutrition Indicators (DP IB Geography)

Nutrition Indicators

• Food security is whether people have continuous access to a diet of sufficient quantity and quality to:

  • Meet daily health needs

  • Lead an active life

Four aspects of food security

• According to the World Bank, there are four main aspects of food security:

  1. Food availability - food production and trade in the supply sector

  2. Food access - financial or physical access to food at the household level

  3. The use of food - the way the body uses nutrients and energy is supported by food preparation, a balanced diet, and a proper diet

  4. Stability - consistency of the other 3 aspects over a period of time 

Global food security

• There is enough food globally to feed everyone on the planet

• There are issues with food insecurity all around the world, in both LICs and HICs

• Weather, war, issues with crop growth, poverty, changing population rates and our changing diets impact food security

• Different areas of the world have too much or too little food

• We use nutrition indicators to measure and demonstrate these differences around the world

Indicators of malnutrition

• Malnutrition occurs when a person isn’t consuming the correct nutrients to stay healthy. This can be a deficiency or surplus

• Malnutrition can cause:

  • Weight loss (or weight gain)

  • Stunted growth

  • Poor resistance to infection

  • Diseases e.g. Kwashiorkor, Marasmus

  • Brain development issues

• The indicators of malnutrition include: 

  • Stunted growth – height is smaller (with regard to age)

  • Wasting – weight is lower (with regard to height)

  • Undernutrition – not eating enough food (energy) over a year to meet dietary standards, resulting in:

    • Being underweight

    • Stunting and/or wasting in children 

    • Micronutrient deficiency 

  • Micronutrient-related malnutrition/overnutrition – excessive nutrient consumption, resulting in:

    • Being overweight

    • Obesity

    • Diet-related noncommunicable diseases, e.g. heart disease, cancer and diabetes

• Malnutrition can cause famine. Death occurs by starvation or deficiency-related diseases

• African, South Asian and South American countries have higher percentages of undernutrition 

• An anomaly is North Korea

  • Due to North Korea’s isolation, poor resource use and physical problems like natural disasters, undernutrition is high  

Patterns in levels of undernutrition in 2020

Food Security Index

• The Global Food Security Index (GFSI) measures food security using 68 indicators

The Four Categories of Indicators of Global Food Security Index

• Each indicator is measured between 0–100 (100 being the best)

• The mean of each indicator provides the score for each category

• The overall score of the GFSI is the average of each category

• LICs have lower GFSI scores, whilst HICs and NEEs have higher scores

• Africa has the majority of lower-scoring GFSI countries 

• An anomaly is Syria 

The pattern of the Global Food Security Index in 2022

The Global Hunger Index

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) measures the rates of hunger on different scales

• Three categories make up the GHI, with four indicators:

  • Inadequate food supply:

    • Undernourishment – how much of the population is undernourished (not consuming enough calories):

      • Measures both adults and children

  • Child Mortality

    • Under-5 mortality – the number of deaths per 1000 births:

      • Measures the deaths caused by hunger in vulnerable groups

  • Child Undernutrition

    • Child stunting – children under 5 who are smaller (according to their age) as a result of chronic (longer periods of) undernutrition 

    • Child wasting – children under 5 who are underweight (according to their height) as a result of acute (shorter period) undernutrition: 

      • It looks at the quality and utilisation of food, not just calories

• The GHI measures hunger from 0–100 (Low–Extremely Alarming)

• Overall, GHI is declining

• In 2022, no country was in the “Extremely Alarming” category

• Africa and South Asia have more countries labelled as “Alarming”

The pattern of the Global Hunger Index in 2022

Calories per person/capita

• Calorie measurement is how much energy a person consumes 

• It is measured using kilocalories per person per day 

• The standard calorie intake is 2000 for women and 2500 for men 

• Generally, HICs have a higher calorie consumption than LICs

• Reduced calorie consumption can result in: 

  • Undernutrition 

  • Malnutrition

  • An increased likelihood of nutrition-related diseases

• Higher calorie consumption results in issues like obesity

• People in HICs may also experience malnutrition by:

  • Being in poverty/under the poverty line

  • Eating enough calories but not getting the correct/enough nutrients

The pattern of calories per person in 2018 (supply not consumption)

Advantages and disadvantages of nutrition indicators