Healthy Diet as a Global Sustainable Development Issue: Reasons, Relationships and a Recommendation

The world is facing a nutrition crisis, with malnutrition responsible for a large proportion of premature death and disease. Poor diets now underlie over 11 million deaths annually and are the leading risk factor for death. Cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) killed more than eight million people before their sixtieth birthdays in low and middle-income countries in 2013 alone. Furthermore, stunting and wasting continue to be a major cause of death and disability in many low- and middle-income countries, creating a double burden of malnutrition. All of these conditions are highly influenced by diet and could be addressed by a healthy food system. The global economic impact from obesity is roughly $2.0 trillion, or 2.8 percent of global GDP, roughly equivalent to the global impact from smoking or armed violence, war, and terrorism. Rates of prevalence are rising far faster in developing economies. Premature illness and disability from diet-related NCDs impoverish families, hurt productivity and bankrupt health systems. Something transformative needs to be done.