Child obesity more prevalent than underweight: UNICEF report

Ultra-processed food and drinks make up at least half of the total energy intake of the average adolescent in Australia, a new UNICEF report has warned.
 
In its annual child nutrition report, Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children, it also indicated there are now more children living with obesity than underweight children for the first time globally.
 
The research, which reflects data analysed from more than 190 countries, found that while the proportion of underweight children aged 5-19 has gone down since 2000, obesity rates have spiked substantially, increasing from 3% to 9.4%.
 
It also found that adolescents in Australia, along with Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom are taking in among the highest levels of ultra-processed foods – accounting for at least 50% of their energy intake.
 
‘These levels are so high that they match the description of a staple food – meaning they constitute a dominant portion of adolescents’ diets,’ the report’s authors wrote.
 
According to the research, obesity is now more prevalent than underweight everywhere in the world, apart from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
 
The authors said 2025 marked a ‘historic turning point’ as ‘for the first time, the global prevalence of obesity among school-age children and adolescents has surpassed that of underweight’.
 
‘This amounts to an estimated 188 million children and adolescents aged 15–19 years living with obesity in 2025, compared with 184 million children and adolescents living with underweight,’ they wrote.
 
It also found that more than one in three (36%) Australians aged 5–19 are affected by overweight or obesity.
 
‘High-income countries have some of the highest rates of overweight and obese children in the world,’ said Katie Maskiell, Head of Policy and Advocacy at UNICEF Australia.
 
‘To tackle this, Australia, along with governments across the world, must look to implement comprehensive mandatory policies to improve children’s food environments, including food labelling, food marketing restrictions, and food taxes and subsidies.’

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