North Korea Has the Highest Proportion of Malnourished Population in the Asia-Pacific Region

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] It has been revealed that about half of North Korea's population is suffering from malnutrition.

According to the "Food Security and Nutrition in the Asia-Pacific Region" report by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF on the 22nd, the proportion of malnourished people in North Korea from 2017 to 2019 exceeded 45%, making North Korea the country with the highest malnutrition rate in the Asia-Pacific region.

Compared to East Timor and Afghanistan, which have the next highest malnutrition rates, North Korea's rate is more than 15 percentage points higher.

The report estimated that only 28.6% of North Korean infants and young children aged 6 to 23 months receive meals meeting the Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD) standard. This means that more than 7 out of 10 children do not even get the minimum meals.

As North Korean infants and young children suffer from malnutrition, the stunting rate among children under 5 years old was 19.1%, higher than the East Asia average of 4.5%. However, it was lower than that of many Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam (23.8%).

The incidence rate of wasting diseases (diseases that consume body nutrients causing physical wasting) among children under 5 was also relatively low at 2.5% among the surveyed countries.

While the overweight rate was low among children, it was relatively high among adults.

The overweight rate among children under 5 was 2.3%, ranking 10th lowest among the 39 surveyed countries.

On the other hand, the overweight and obesity rate among adults increased from about 25% in 2000 to 32.4% in 2016, meaning one in three adults. This rate is even higher than South Korea's overweight and obesity rate of 30.3%.