UN: World hunger reaches 1 billion mark

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-22 10:11

The number of hungry people is estimated to have reached 1.02 billion -- up 11 percent from last year's 915 million, FAO said. The agency said it based its estimate on analysis by the US Department of Agriculture.

FAO said that the hunger rate is rising, too -- that is, the number of hungry people is growing more quickly than the world population. Officials did not provide a rate but said the trend began two years ago.

Almost all the world's undernourished live in developing countries. But all regions of the world have registered two-digit increases in hunger from last year.

The world's most populous region, Asia and the Pacific, has the largest number of hungry people -- 642 million, up 10.5 percent from last year. Sub-Saharan Africa registers 265 million undernourished, an 11.8 percent increase. Even in the developed world, undernourishment is a growing concern, with 15 million in all and a 15.4 percent increase, the sharpest rise around the world, FAO said.

The dire figures make it highly unlikely that a goal set by the wealthiest nations to cut hunger in the world in half by 2015 will be met, though officials vow to press world leaders at the Group of Eight summit gathering in Italy next month.

FAO said the calorie-limit it employs to declare a person hungry is on average 1,800, though it changes slightly from country to country.

Alice Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition science and policy at Tufts University, said FAO's hunger definition was reasonable, if a little conservative. She said the 1,800-calorie threshold represented the number of calories most adults need to maintain their body weight, but that the figure would vary depending on a person's size and level of physical activity.

The number of calories for children varies even more. They need fewer calories because they are smaller, but also need increasing amounts as they get older to ensure they are growing.

World cereal production in 2009 was strong, but the global economic downturn resulted in lower incomes and higher unemployment rates -- and therefore reduced access to food.

The crisis also affects the quality of nutrition, as families tend to buy cheaper, calorie-rich but nutrient-poor foods such as grains, at the expense of meat, dairy products and other expensive and high-protein foods.

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