Developing World Confronts Critical Child Health Threat From Malnutrition And Rising Obesity

Millions of children across the developing world are being caught in a growing "double burden" of malnutrition, as rapidly rising childhood obesity rates collide with persistently high levels of undernutrition, according to a major global health project backed by the World Health Organization. The findings, drawn from research involving more than 1,000 scientists tracking nutritional trends among children aged 5 to 19 across 200 countries, point to a shifting epicenter of the childhood obesity epidemic toward nations that can least afford to address it, with results published in the journal Nature in May.

The data show obesity rates among boys rising fastest in Peru, reaching 19 percent between 2023 and 2024, up sharply from less than 8 percent in 2010, while girls saw the fastest increases in Tonga and Samoa. In Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, obesity prevalence among both boys and girls climbed by more than half a percentage point in 2024 alone, marking the largest single-year increase recorded so far. According to an analysis compiled for Reuters by researchers involved in the project, obesity has now overtaken undernutrition in prevalence among Indonesia's roughly 60 million school-aged children, making it the third most populous nation, after China and the United States, to cross that threshold.

The same shift occurred globally for the first time last year, according to a separate UNICEF analysis. The human toll of this trend is illustrated through the experience of Intan Permatasari, a teenager from Bogor, south of Jakarta, whose struggles with severe obesity led to years of bullying and social isolation before she began treatment. Her case reflects a broader pattern documented by researchers: children in low- and middle-income countries gaining weight rapidly amid growing access to cheap, processed foods, while awareness of the associated health risks remains limited. Experts who spoke to Reuters warned that the psychological toll compounds long-term physical risks, including heart disease, diabetes and asthma, yet said global health institutions and many national governments continue to devote little attention to the issue.

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Researchers involved in the project cautioned that the surge in obesity is occurring both in countries where prevalence remains relatively low, such as Tanzania and Bangladesh, and in nations where it is already substantial, including the Bahamas and Chile. One global child health expert warned that the health gains achieved over decades through vaccination programs and improved treatment of infectious diseases risk being undermined by what he described as a wave of non-communicable disease driven by childhood obesity.

Indonesia's experience is being cited as a striking example of how quickly the so-called "nutrition transition," the shift from widespread food scarcity to an abundance of inexpensive, unhealthy food, can unfold in middle-income countries, a process that took decades in the United States and Europe but is occurring in under 20 years in some developing nations today. Analysts point to a combination of genetics, increasingly sedentary lifestyles and easy access to processed foods high in fat and sugar as key drivers. A review shared with Reuters by the Netherlands-based Access to Nutrition Initiative found that only around a fifth of food products sold in Indonesian grocery stores met international standards for healthy nutrition, well below the average recorded across other countries studied.

The World Health Organization estimates the global economic costs associated with overweight and obesity could reach $3 trillion by 2030 without intervention, encompassing healthcare spending, lost productivity and premature deaths. In Indonesia alone, projections suggest obesity-related costs could nearly triple between 2019 and 2030. While Indonesian officials acknowledge that obesity rates are increasing, some have downplayed its urgency relative to other health priorities, even as the government has introduced measures including a new food labeling system and expanded health screening programs aimed at earlier detection and prevention among children and adults alike.

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