‘Obesity becomes leading form of malnutrition among children’
KARACHI: Obesity has overtaken underweight as the most common form of
malnutrition among children and adolescents worldwide, UNICEF warned in its
newly released 2025 Child Nutrition Report, urging governments, civil society,
and partners to urgently transform food environments and ensure children’s
access to nutritious diets.
With one in ten children worldwide now living with obesity — an estimated
188 million school-aged children and adolescents — the UN agency cautioned that
the trend poses long-term risks to health, learning, and development, while
threatening the social and economic future of communities and nations.
The report, Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children,
presents data from more than 190 countries and marks a turning point in the
global face of malnutrition. It finds that the prevalence of underweight among
children aged 5 to 19 has declined from nearly 13 per cent in 2000 to 9.2 per
cent in 2025, while obesity rates have surged from 3 per cent to 9.4 per cent
during the same period. With the exception of sub-Saharan Africa and South
Asia, obesity now exceeds underweight across all regions of the world.
“Malnutrition today is no longer just about underweight children,” UNICEF
Executive Director Catherine Russell said. “Obesity is a growing concern that
can impact the health and development of children. Ultra-processed food is
increasingly replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a time when nutrition
plays a critical role in children’s growth, cognitive development and mental
health.”
Children face relentless marketing of junk food
The findings underscore the powerful influence of unhealthy food environments. The report warns that children are surrounded by a constant supply of cheap, aggressively marketed ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks, while nutritious options remain less available and affordable.
A global poll of 64,000 young people conducted through UNICEF’s U-Report
platform found that 75 per cent had seen advertisements for sugary drinks,
snacks, or fast foods in the previous week, and 60 per cent said the ads
increased their desire to eat them. Even in conflict-affected countries, 68 per
cent of young respondents reported such exposure.
“Children’s diets are being shaped not by informed choice, but by relentless
exposure to junk food marketing,” the report notes, pointing to digital
platforms as powerful conduits for the food and beverage industry.
Global hotspots
The report highlights striking regional differences. Several Pacific Island
countries recorded the highest prevalence of childhood obesity globally, with
rates doubling since 2000: 38 per cent of children aged 5 to 19 in Niue are
living with obesity, followed by 37 per cent in Cook Islands and 33 per cent in
Nauru.
High-income countries also report troubling levels. In Chile, 27 per cent of
children and adolescents are obese, compared with 21 per cent in the United
States and 21 per cent in the United Arab Emirates. UNICEF attributes these
increases to a dietary shift away from traditional, locally produced foods
toward energy-dense, highly processed imports.
Meanwhile, undernutrition — including stunting and wasting — remains a
pressing issue among children under five in many low- and middle-income
countries. Yet the rise in obesity among school-aged children and adolescents
adds what UNICEF calls a “double burden of malnutrition,” in which communities
struggle simultaneously with both extremes of undernutrition and overweight.
Pakistan shares in global trends
In Pakistan, UNICEF data show a worrying prevalence of overweight and
obesity among school-age children. In 2022, 18 per cent of children aged 5–9
years — including 16 per cent of girls and 21 per cent of boys — were
classified as overweight. Among those aged 10–14 years, the proportion rose to
19 per cent, with 18 per cent of girls and 21 per cent of boys affected.
Across the broader 5–19 age group, nearly one in five children (19 per cent)
were overweight. The study further estimated obesity rates of 10 per cent among
5–9 year-olds and 8 per cent among 10–14 year-olds, while thinness remained a
concern at 14 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.
Public
health experts warn that such overlapping patterns of overweight, obesity and
thinness reflect the “double burden” of malnutrition, leaving Pakistan with
both rising non-communicable disease risks and persistent undernutrition
challenges. Health experts and UNICEF alike point out that while all
obese children are classified as overweight, obesity marks a more severe stage
of excess body weight.
Health and economic costs
The long-term consequences are stark. Childhood obesity is linked to insulin
resistance, high blood pressure, and increased risks of type-2 diabetes,
cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers later in life. Economically, UNICEF
estimates that without effective interventions, countries could face lifetime
costs running into hundreds of billions of dollars. By 2035, the global
economic impact of overweight and obesity is expected to exceed US$4 trillion
annually.
Policy responses and recommendations
Despite the grim trends, the report highlights examples of governments taking
decisive steps. In Mexico, where sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods
account for about 40 per cent of children’s daily calories, authorities have
banned the sale and distribution of such products in public schools, directly
benefiting more than 34 million children.
To accelerate global progress, UNICEF outlines eight recommendations,
including the implementation of mandatory food labelling, restrictions on
marketing unhealthy products to children, taxes on sugary drinks, and policies
to improve the affordability of nutritious, locally produced foods. The agency
also calls for stronger safeguards against interference by the ultra-processed
food industry in public policy, expanded social protection programmes, and
greater youth involvement in policymaking on food justice.
“Nutritious and affordable food must be available to every child to support
their growth and development,” said Russell. “We urgently need policies that
support parents and caretakers to access healthy foods for their children.”
A shifting paradigm
As the balance between underweight and obesity tilts globally, UNICEF
stresses that governments can no longer afford to treat childhood nutrition
solely as a problem of scarcity. Instead, policies must address the
overabundance of unhealthy products and the systemic failures that allow them
to dominate children’s diets.
“The story of malnutrition is changing,” the report concludes. “If action is
not taken now, this generation of children could face a lifetime of compromised
health and diminished potential.”
--News Desk
Charts and images courtesy: UNICEF
-- This report was originally published in the weekly Social Track, Karachi (September 26. 2025)
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