A United Nations study indicates that hunger in the Arab region continues to rise, threatening the region's efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Zero Hunger goal. The latest edition of the Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in the Near East and North Africa, estimates that more than 51 million people in the region are suffering from hunger. According to the report, the "triple burden of malnutrition" consisting of undernutrition, overweight and obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies (often linked to poor diets) continue to increase at an alarming speed in the Arab region, particularly among school-age children and adults. The report highlights that 22.5 percent of children under 5 years of age were stunted, 9.2 percent wasted and 9.9 percent were overweight. The Arab region also ranked second for adult obesity in the world in 2019, with 27 percent of the adult population obese.
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