The Malnourished middle, a report by Results UK

Every third person in the world is malnourished. Alarmingly, around eight out of ten malnourished children reside in middle-income countries (MICs) with lower middle-income countries (LMICs) shouldering the biggest share of this burden. This ‘silent emergency’ is dictating the survival and potential of these populations, and the future of these countries. This report reviewed the malnutrition burden in 89 MICs, following the exclusion of 20 that are considered as ‘fragile situations’ from the World Bank’s list of MICs. These were found to be home to 122 million stunted, 47 million wasted, 26 million overweight children, as well as over 500 million women of reproductive age who are anaemic. This everyday emergency threatens the survival and potential for individuals in these countries, and severely limits the progress these countries can achieve.

Based on available and accessible data, the report also reviews national policies for nutrition in these countries, and looks into some of the nutritional inequities. The report goes on to suggest six key accelerators to drive rapid reductions in malnutrition in MICs; without which multi-dimensional progress will remain a challenge.

1. Country ownership
2. Robust policy frameworks for nutrition
3. Sustained and collaborative donor support
4. Addressing nutritional inequalities
5. Innovative solutions for Nutrition
6. Data and Accountability

The report also assesses policy frameworks in these countries on nutrition and the nutritional inequities that exist within them. Based on the data analysed, it recommends actions that are imperative to address this issue.

• Download the report: “The Malnourished middle” – English