Abstract
The goals of the present targeted review on maternal and child overweight and obesity were to: (i) understand the current situation in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) with regard to recent trends and context-specific risk factors; and (ii) building off this, identify entry points for leveraging existing undernutrition programmes to address overweight and obesity in LMIC. Trends reveal that overweight and obesity are a growing problem among women and children in LMIC; as in Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, where the prevalence among urban women is approaching 50 %. Four promising entry points were identified: (i) the integration of overweight and obesity into national nutrition plans; (ii) food systems (integration of food and beverage marketing regulations into existing polices on the marketing of breast-milk substitutes and adoption of policies to promote healthy diets); (iii) education systems (integration of nutrition into school curricula with provision of high-quality foods through school feeding programmes); and (iv) health systems (counselling and social and behaviour change communication to improve maternal diet, appropriate gestational weight gain, and optimal infant and young child feeding practices). We conclude by presenting a step-by-step guide for programme officers and policy makers in LMIC with actionable objectives to address overweight and obesity.
Highlights
The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among women and children in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) represents hindered progress on maternal and child health, and has important implications for future economic development[1]
The annualized change in prevalence from approximately 2000 to 2010 among women in urban areas of Bangladesh, Ghana, Malawi, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe was at least 1·00 %(5), meaning that if trends continue, the prevalence of overweight in urban areas of these countries will increase by 10 % over the decade
The prevalence of overweight and obesity is lower in rural areas compared with urban areas in most LMIC[5]
Summary
The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among women and children in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) represents hindered progress on maternal and child health, and has important implications for future economic development[1]. The annualized change in prevalence from approximately 2000 to 2010 among women in urban areas of Bangladesh, Ghana, Malawi, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, Zambia and Zimbabwe was at least 1·00 %(5), meaning that if trends continue, the prevalence of overweight in urban areas of these countries will increase by 10 % over the decade. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is lower in rural areas compared with urban areas in most LMIC[5]. Looking at trends over time, the recent rate of increase in overweight and obesity in several countries (e.g. Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe) is greater in rural areas compared with urban areas[5]. While rural–urban disparities persist, the gap is narrowing in some countries
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