Is the food shortage in poor countries the main cause of nutritional diseases?

Political, geographical and socio-economic differences between countries cause the differences in prevalence of nutrition-related diseases that developing countries are faced more with these problems. In these communities, a high prevalence of poor diet and infectious disease makes a vicious circle, persistent poverty, eventually lack of economic development. Authors investigated whether the food shortage is the main cause of nutritional disease in poor countries. In this secondary data analysis, information on food production, economic and health status of 192 countries (the member countries of the United Nations) provided by World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Bank have been used. Data were analyzedby ANOVA and regression methods. According to data that were collected, food production index (includes all nutritious food products) in 2013 (P<0.001) and livestock production index in 2012 (P=0.004) are more in developing countries relative to developed countries, while prevalence of undernourishment in 2013 (P<0.001) is significantly higher than developed countries. The regression analysis showed that prevalence of undernourishment in 2013 hada positive correlation with GINI, rural population percent, government expenditure on health and had a negative correlation with HDI, without any significant correlation with food and livestock production. Despite high food production in developing countries, undernourishment is higher than in developed countries. The cause may be related to low sanitation, unequal distribution of income and social inequality. It seems that a sustainable approach to overcome diseases like anemia and malnutrition is to construct socio-economic backgrounds in developing countries.

Keywords:

Food production , Developing countries , Undernourishment