Indonesia’s Triple Burden of Malnutrition a Call for Urgent Policy Change

Abstract

The Asia and Pacific Region is home to more than half the world’s undernourished children, but also has the fastest growing prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity. The most dramatic increase in overweight in children under five years old has been observed in Southeast Asia, which saw a 128% increase between 2000 and 2017. With micronutrient deficiencies added to undernutrition and overweight/obesity, the result is known as the ‘triple burden of malnutrition’. This phenomenon is particularly stark in Indonesia, which is experiencing a very high prevalence of childhood chronic undernutrition (over 30% in 2017) alongside very high rates of overweight (over 11%). Yet there are very little published data available on people’s diets in Indonesia and few methods adapted to measure the triple burden.