Giving Compass' Take:

• The nutrition paradox we are facing is described as "the intertwining trends of obesity, undernutrition, hunger, and environmental degradation." Private sector support in the form of start-ups can help address both issues of obesity and malnutrition. 

• What is the role of philanthropists in helping start-ups through the hurdles of addressing these global health issues? 

• Read about why our food systems are perpetuating malnutrition. 

The need for affordable, nutritious food has become of one of the most urgent issues of our time, as obesity and malnutrition overtake hunger as major health concerns.

Dubbed the ‘nutrition paradox’, the intertwining trends of obesity, undernutrition, hunger and environmental degradation point to a global food production system that has reached breaking point.

Global hunger continues to be a problem, with over 800 million people taking in insufficient calories, while the number of overweight or obese people now eclipses 2 billion. This serious dire implications for health and healthcare spending, with a rise in chronic diseases such as diabetes. At the same time, people who are neither hungry or overweight are still lacking in basic nutrients.

Added to this is the environmental damage caused by changing dietary preferences for meat, particularly among Asia’s rising middle classes, and intensive large-scale production of food.

Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Professor Emeritus at the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, said that the efforts to tackle these issues have to include the private sector.

He noted that most of the benefit from addressing the problem would be captured in the well-being of society, and not passed on to those making healthier products. A win-win strategy for all sides was therefore necessary.

Professor Pinstrup-Andersen noted that while there is rising consumer demand for affordable nutritious food, this does not always translate into actual consumer behaviour or purchases. Governments have sought to influence consumer behaviour, often through taxation, but in general this has been ineffective.

As such, there is a need to address both the demand and supply for healthier and environmentally sustainable food, and the change needs to take place at the same time. But given the business risks, the food industry isn’t often willing to step in, and it is left to start-ups to fill that space.

Read the full article about nutrition paradox by Carolyn Hong at Eco-Business.