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One in five UK children living with food insecurity

One in five UK children living with food insecurity
15 Jun 2017
A new report from Unicef has revealed that one in five children in the UK is living with an adult who is food insecure, which puts UK levels among the highest of rich nations.

The Building the Future report defines food insecurity as a lack of secure access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that can ensure normal growth and development, as well as an active and healthy lifestyle.

Unicef finds that 19.5% of children below the age of 15 in the UK are living with a respondent who is food insecure despite food availability in the country not being a problem.

The report also defines obesity as a form of malnutrition and finds that on average, one in seven children is overweight or obese in the world's richest countries. Data for Ireland and the United Kingdom has been excluded because of a high non-response rate.

The UK ranks 34th in the zero hunger league table produced by Unicef, which also finds Canada and the US in similar territory. Japan, Denmark and Switzerland are the best performing countries. In 22 of the 30 countries surveyed, the proportion of children age 11-15 who were overweight was higher in 2014 than in 2006.