malnutrition

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UN: Underweight Kids No Longer Biggest Problem

Overweight kids now outnumber those who are underweight

(Newser) - The scales have tipped, quite literally. For the first time, more children globally are obese than underweight, according to a new UN report . UNICEF says 188 million children and teens are now living with obesity—that's 9.4% of 5- to 19-year-olds worldwide, compared to 9.2% who...

Experts: 'Worst-Case' Famine Scenario Happening Now in Gaza

They predict 'widespread death' without immediate action to get aid in the hands of Gazans

(Newser) - The "worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip," the leading international authority on food crises said in a new alert on Tuesday, predicting "widespread death" without immediate action. The alert, still short of a formal famine declaration, follows an outcry over images...

People in Gaza Are 'Walking Corpses'
People in Gaza
Are 'Walking Corpses'
the rundown
Jul 24, 2025 10:25 AM CDT

People in Gaza Are 'Walking Corpses'

Aid agencies say hunger crisis has reached 'astonishing' new levels

(Newser) - Aid agencies have been warning of a looming hunger crisis in Gaza for months, and a spate of new reports suggests it has fully arrived:
  • This week, the UN's World Food Program said the crisis had reached "new and astonishing levels of desperation, with a third of the
...

Report: 500K Face Starvation in Gaza

Famine likely as humanitarian aid remains blocked, per IPC

(Newser) - A new international report says Gaza is teetering on the edge of famine, with nearly half a million residents already facing catastrophic levels of hunger. As food runs out and aid remains blocked, the warning signs are only growing, per the AP . Citing Israel's blockade and ongoing military...

Palestinian Teen Dies After 6 Months in Israeli Prison

Walid Ahmad's death highlights prison conditions and detainee treatment

(Newser) - A Palestinian teenager died in Israeli detention after collapsing in what the AP refers to as "unclear circumstances" on March 23. Walid Ahmad, 17, had been held in Megiddo Prison for six months without being charged, and became the first Palestinian teen to die in Israeli custody. His family...

Nigeria Takes Aim at Malnutrition With ... Bouillon

As climate change wreaks havoc, African nation looks to a simple soup cube that everyone uses

(Newser) - Malnourished households in Nigeria soon will have a simple ingredient available to improve their intake of key vitamins and minerals. Government regulators are launching standards for adding iron, zinc, folic acid, and vitamin B12 to bouillon cubes at minimum levels recommended by experts. While the standards will be voluntary for...

This Wild Plant Is Keeping Gazans Alive

Khobeza is at least free, though harvesting can be dangerous

(Newser) - In northern Gaza, two pounds of rotten-looking potatoes sell for more than $10. Two pounds of rice sell for $20, up from $2 before the war, NPR reports. Many can't afford to buy food, and some say they've had no access to humanitarian aid. "There's no...

'The Child Deaths We Feared Are Here'

Children, elderly succumb to hunger in Gaza amid war, issues with aid delivery

(Newser) - After months of warnings over the risk of famine in Gaza under Israel's bombardment, offensives, and siege, children are starting to die. Hunger is most acute in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by Israeli forces and has suffered long cutoffs of food supply deliveries, per the AP . At...

More Than 1B People Worldwide Are Obese
Obesity Rate Worldwide
Has Soared Since 1990
NEW STUDY
Mar 1, 2024 8:24 AM CST

Obesity Rate Worldwide Has Soared Since 1990

The rate has quadrupled among kids and teens, researchers say

(Newser) - More than 1 billion worldwide are obese and obesity is now the most common form of malnutrition in many countries, according to a new study published in the Lancet . Researchers used data from thousands of studies involving more than 220 million people in almost 200 countries, the Guardian reports. They...

'It Is Hard to Overstate the Severity of the Situation'

Afghans struggle to feed their families amid UN aid cuts and a looming winter

(Newser) - The UN's World Food Program has had to cut 10 million Afghans off emergency food assistance over the past year due to " a massive funding shortfall ," exacerbating a crisis that will continue to worsen into the winter as snow cuts off supply routes and food and fuel...

UN Calls Food Crisis in Africa Unprecedented

Most people can't afford a healthy diet, report says

(Newser) - At least three-fourths of Africans can't afford a healthy diet, and a fifth are undernourished due to an "unprecedented food crisis," United Nations agencies said in a report released Thursday with the African Union Commission. The continent's 1.4 billion people are confronting high levels of...

'Toddler Milks' Are Unregulated and Unnecessary

American Academy of Pediatrics weighs in

(Newser) - Powdered drink mixes that are widely promoted as "toddler milks" for older babies and children up to age 3 are unregulated, unnecessary, and "nutritionally incomplete," the American Academy of Pediatrics warns. The drinks, which are touted to parents on TikTok, in television ads, and on other sites,...

Autopsies In on Family Who Died Trying to Live Off the Grid

Christine and Rebecca Vance and latter's teen son likely died of malnutrition, hypothermia

(Newser) - The stepsister of a Colorado woman who was found dead along with her sister and teenage son at a remote Rocky Mountain campsite says the women fled into the wilderness after struggling to cope with societal changes in recent years, but they were unequipped to survive off the grid. Exposed...

Lula Airlifts Starving Tribespeople, Points Finger at Bolsonaro

Hundreds of Yanomami children have reportedly died as a result of illegal mining

(Newser) - Brazil's president has accused his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro of committing genocide against the remote Amazon tribe of Yanomami, whose territory has been infiltrated by illegal miners . President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who said he was "shocked" while visiting tribespeople in Brazil's northern state of Roraima...

'World's Loneliest Elephant' Is Given a New Life

Kaavan has attracted the attention of celebrities and animal activists

(Newser) - An elephant who has become a cause celebre for animal rights activists around the world will be allowed to leave his Pakistani zoo and transferred to better conditions, the animal welfare group helping with the case said Saturday. Dubbed the 'world's loneliest elephant' by his supporters, Kaavan has...

Teen Wins $250K for Malnutrition- Busting Tool

Inspired by her 3 siblings and an Ethiopian drought, Lillian Peterson aces Regeneron science contest

(Newser) - A high school senior in New Mexico has a bright future in STEM—and it just got much brighter with the announcement she beat out 40 other finalists to win a prestigious science and math competition. NPR reports that 17-year-old Lillian Kay Petersen of Los Alamos has taken home the...

Maduro Makes 'Bizarre' Ask of Venezuela's Women

Venezuelan president wants female citizens to have lots of babies 'for the good of the country'

(Newser) - The Venezuelan president hasn't said much about his supposed new health-care plan for women—some aren't even sure if there even is an actual plan, notes the Guardian —but the instructions Nicolas Maduro offered on Tuesday to female citizens generated instant backlash. "Give birth!" Maduro...

Untrained Missionary Defends Care of Children Who Died

Uganda nonprofit cared for the malnourished

(Newser) - An American missionary is defending herself against allegations that she ran an unlicensed medical organization in Uganda that was responsible for the deaths of more than 100 children. The two women suing Renee Bach said they didn't realize she had no medical training until their children died. "Mistakes...

UN on North Korea: 1 in 5 Children Are Stunted

And 43% of the population is undernourished

(Newser) - An estimated 11 million people in North Korea—over 43% of the population—are undernourished and "chronic food insecurity and malnutrition is widespread," according to a United Nations report issued Wednesday. The report by Tapan Mishra, the head of the UN office in North Korea, said that "...

'A Death Sentence' for Kids Under 5 in Yemen

85K may have died since 2015: Save the Children

(Newser) - If Democrats were spurred to action after the deaths of 40 children in Yemen, killed when an airstrike hit their bus , you should now expect an uproar. "This situation is proving a death sentence," a rep for Save the Children says of Yemen's civil war, which has...

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