Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean: Towards Healthier Food Environments That Address All Forms of Malnutrition

By Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Latin America and the Caribbean managed to reduce the number of undernourished by 20 million compared to the year 2000. However, 2018 marks the fourth consecutive year in which hunger shows a continuous increases.

Moderate or severe food insecurity in Latin America increased considerably. This increase caused more than 32 million people to join the almost 155 million who lived in food insecurity in the Region in 2014-2016. The Region has shown significant progress in reducing child malnutrition and it is significantly distant and below the global prevalence of malnutrition in girls and boys. However, malnutrition due to excessive weight in the Region is one of the highest in the world and it continues to increase.

This year, the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean focuses on food environments and describes some of the main policies that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are developing to face the different forms of malnutrition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• Release date: Jul 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9789251326107

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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CITATION:

FAO, PAHO, WFP and UNICEF. 2019. Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean 2019. Santiago. 135. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca6979en

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Cover photo: ©istockphoto

CONTENTS

TABLES, FIGURES AND BOXES

FOREWORD

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

GEOGRAPHICAL SUBREGIONS OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN AND COUNTRY CODES

PRESENTATION

CHAPTER 1

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS RELATED TO FOOD

SDG 2: END HUNGER, ACHIEVE FOOD SECURITY AND IMPROVED NUTRITION AND PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Target 2.1: End hunger and ensure access for all people to safe, nutritious and sufficient food

Target 2.2: End all forms of malnutrition

ENSURE HEALTHY LIVES AND PROMOTE WELL BEING FOR ALL AT ALL AGES

Target 3.1: Reduce maternal mortality

Target 3.2: End preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5

Target 3.4: Reduce premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases

OTHER INDICATORS

CHAPTER 2

POLICIES TO PROMOTE APPROPRIATE DIET IN FOOD ENVIRONMENTS

2.1 AVAILABILITY AND PHYSICAL ACCESS TO FOOD

Evolution of food systems and increased availability of ultra-processed products

Changes in food distribution channels and in the consumption of ultra-processed products

Food deserts and food swamps. Case studies in the Region and around the world

POLICIES TO PROMOTE AVAILABILITY AND PHYSICAL ACCESS TO FOOD

Public food supply and marketing systems

School meals programs

2.2 ECONOMIC ACCESS TO FOOD

Deterioration in economic access to food in the Region

Differences in economic access to food according to household income level

Evolution of food patterns and income level of countries in the Region

POLICIES TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC ACCESS TO HEALTHY DIETS

Fiscal policy to promote appropriate diet

Social protection systems

2.3 PROMOTION, ADVERTISING AND INFORMATION RELATING TO FOOD PRODUCTS

Effect of advertising and promotion on children and adolescents

Composition of ultra-processed products and available information

PROMOTION, ADVERTISING AND INFORMATION POLICIES FOR HEALTHIER DIETS

Regulation of advertising and marketing of food and beverages

Front-of-package nutritional warning labeling

2.4 FOOD QUALITY AND SAFETY

Health risks of eating contaminated food

Role of safety and quality in the food trade

SAFETY AND QUALITY POLICIES FOR HEALTHIER DIETS

APPENDICES

REFERENCES

TABLES, FIGURES AND BOXES

Figure 1. Undernourishment trends in Latin America and the Caribbean by subregions, in millions of people, 2000-2018

Figure 2. Evolution of the prevalence of undernourishment in Latin America and the Caribbean by percentage, 2000-2018

Figure 3. Prevalence of undernourishment in different countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, prevalence as a percentage, 2013-2015 and 2016-2018

Table 1. Undernourishment in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, prevalence as a percentage and in millions of people, in trienniums from 2000-02 to 2016-2018*

Figure 4. Severity levels of food insecurity quantified by the Food Insecurity Experience Scale

Table 2. Severe and moderate or severe insecurity in Latin American and Caribbean countries with information from the FIES, prevalence as a percentage and in millions of people, 2014-2016 and 2016-2018*

Table 3. Severe and moderate or severe food insecurity in adults (18 years and older) in several Latin American countries according to sex, prevalence as a percentage and in millions of people, 2016-2018*

Box 1. Leave no one behind. Survey of intercultural statistical data for the indigenous peoples of El Salvador and Panama

Box 2. Policies to address hunger and food insecurity in the face of the economic slowdown

Box 3. Integrated Food Security Phase Classification

Figure 5. Evolution of stunting in children under 5 years old in Latin America and the Caribbean and subregions, prevalence as a percentage, 1990-2018

Figure 6. Stunting in children under 5 in several countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, prevalence as percentages, most recent data from the 2000s and 2010s

Figure 7. Wasting in children under 5 in Latin America and the Caribbean, prevalence as a percentage, 2018

Figure 8. Wasting in children under 5 in several countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, prevalence as a percentage, most recent data from the 2000s and 2010s

Box 4. Reactive social protection against emergencies: Policies, strategies and programs

Figure 9. Evolution of overweight in children under 5 in Latin America and the Caribbean, prevalence as a percentage, 1990-2018

Figure 10. Overweight in children under 5 in various countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, prevalence as a percentage, most recent data from the 2000s and 2010s

Figure 11. Trend of overweight in adults (18 years and older) in Latin America and the Caribbean and the world, prevalence as a percentage, 1975-2016

Figure 12. Trend of obesity in adults (18 years and older) in Latin America and the Caribbean and the world, prevalence as a percentage, 1975-2016

Figure 13. Changes in obesity in adults (18 years and older) in Latin America and the Caribbean and the world, prevalence as a percentage, 1980-1999 and 2000-2016

Figure 14. Overweight and obesity in adults (18 years and older) in Latin America and the Caribbean and the rest of world by sex, prevalence as a percentage, 2016

Table 4. Prevalence of malnutrition in the world and in Latin America and the Caribbean as a percentage, by selected population groups, various years

Box 5. The multiple burden of malnutrition

Figure 15. Maternal mortality rate (maternal deaths per 100 000 live births) in Latin America and the Caribbean and the world, 2015

Figure 16. Neonatal mortality rate per 1 000 live births, Latin America and the Caribbean, 2015 and 2017

Figure 17. Mortality rate in children under 5 per 1 000 live births, 2015 and 2017

Figure 18. Major causes of mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2016

Figure 19. Probability of death from noncommunicable diseases in people aged 30 to 70 in Latin America and the Caribbean and the world, as a percentage, 2018

Table 5. Evidence supporting causality between food risk factors and their outcomes in terms of noncommunicable diseases

Figure 20. Deaths attributable to unhealthy diets in adults, by total and principal noncommunicable disease, as percentages, 2017

Figure 21. Mortality attributable to unhealthy diets in adults, by total and principal noncommunicable disease, in deaths per 100 000 population, 2017

Figure 22. Distribution of caloric availability per person per day and types of food in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2013

Box 6. Zero Hunger Parliaments

Figure 23. Evolution of caloric availability by type of food and subregions of Latin America and the Caribbean, 1980-2013

Figure 24. Urban population and sale of ultra-processed foods in selected countries of Latin America and the Caribbean

Box 7. Degree of food processing according to the NOVA food classification system

Box 8. Legal frameworks for the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste

Box 9. School environments to promote an appropriate diet

Box 10. Closing the nutrient gap in Ecuador: the role of physical and economic access to nutritious food in relation to the country’s nutritional situation

Figure 25. Poverty and extreme poverty in Latin America, in millions of people, 2002-2018

Figure 26. The relationship between undernourishment and the international extreme poverty rate, measured at USD 1.90 per person per day, average rates (%), 2010-2018

Figure 27. Average food availability (kg/person/year) according to income level, countries of Latin America and Caribbean, 2013

Figure 28. Evolution of food patterns according to income level of countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, percentage of total calories, 1965-2013

Figure 29. Relationship between income per person and malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean and the world, average rates (%), 2010-2017

Box 11. Nutrition-sensitive social protection approach

Figure 30. Evolution of overweight and obesity in children (5-9 years old) in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1975-2016

Figure 31. Evolution of overweight and obesity in children (10-19 years old) in Latin America and of the Caribbean, 1975-2016

Table 6. Biological and chemical agents involved in outbreaks of foodborne diseases, selection of examples

Box 12. Food safety: everyone’s business

Box 13. Work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its member countries. Guidelines and Codes of Practice by subject

Box 14. Taste preferences for sweet and savory

Annex 1. Goals 2 and 3 of the SDGs: Targets and indicators

Annex 2. Conceptual framework of food systems for diets and nutrition

Annex 3. Legislative initiatives of the Parliamentary Front against Hunger to promote food systems and healthy food environments

Annex 4. Glossary

FOREWORD

Healthy food environments to address malnutrition in all its forms

Reaching the goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development means achieving a world without hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in any of its forms. In recent decades, the region of Latin America and the Caribbean has made significant progress towards the effective exercise of the right to adequate food and the protection of the health of all its inhabitants. However, the current period of low economic growth, severe climatic phenomena, unsustainable