Working with global nutrition data

Assessing trends in malnutrition rates and country progress towards global nutrition targets can be tricky. Global numbers often paint a gloomy picture when many countries are making great strides in improving nutrition. National averages mask the granularity that comes with sub-national data at the state and district levels. Aggregating up to the global level is another challenge. The data tell us that childhood malnutrition is decreasing in many countries, but that adult obesity is rising everywhere. So is malnutrition increasing or decreasing globally? The answer is that we can’t be certain, because we don’t have the data to give us a reliable conclusion.

To learn more about the the use of data in nutrition analysis, read this post from Komal Bhatia (Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, UK) , Kamilla Eriksen (MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge, UK) and Natasha Ledlie (International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington D.C.) who are all Data Analysts for the Global Nutrition Report.