Chapter 2 Sustainable development goal 2.2: malnutrition
Latin America and the Caribbean faces a complex malnutrition problem that includes undernutrition (child stunting and wasting, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies), as well as overweight and obesity. The prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age in the region increased between 2000 and 2022, and the prevalence of obesity in adults increased between 2000 and 2016. Moreover, the prevalence of both conditions is higher than the global estimate, while some countries in the region still have a high prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years of age.
In 2022, the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years of age in the region was 11.5 percent and, although significant reductions have been achieved since 2000, the decline has been slowing down in recent years. Between 2000 and 2012, the prevalence decreased by nearly 5 percentage points, while in the period from 2012 to 2022 the reduction was only 1.2 percentage points. On the other hand, between 2020 and 2022, the prevalence of this form of malnutrition decreased slightly from 11.7 to 11.5 percent, respectively.
Although progress has been made, no subregion is on track to achieve the 2025 World Health Assembly (WHA) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development targets for stunting. In addition, there were important differences between subregions. In South America, the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years of age was 9 percent in 2022, while in Mesoamerica it was 16.9 percent and in the Caribbean 11.3 percent.
The prevalence of wasting in Latin America and the Caribbean was 1.4 percent in 2022, significantly below the world estimate (6.8 percent). All subregions and most countries are on track to achieve the SDG 2030 target of maintaining wasting levels among children under 5 years of age below 3 percent.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age reached 8.6 percent in 2022, which is 3 percentage points above the world estimate. In addition, the prevalence of this condition has been increasing faster in the region compared to world estimates, and it is the only region where no country with data available is on track to achieve the 2030 target of reducing overweight in children under 5 years of age to less than 3 percent.
Between 2020 and 2022, in the context of the pandemic, the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age increased slightly from 8.3 to 8.6 percent. In terms of the subregions, the greatest increase was in South America, while the prevalence increased slightly in Mesoamerica and remained stable in the Caribbean. In 2022, the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age was 9.7 percent in South America, 6.7 percent in Mesoamerica, and 6.6 percent in the Caribbean.
In the region, anaemia affected 17.2 percent of women aged 15 to 49 years in 2019, which is significantly below the world estimate of 29.9 percent. However, there are important differences between the subregions. In the Caribbean, 29.2 percent of women in this age group suffered from this condition, compared to 17.3 percent in South America and 14.6 percent in Mesoamerica.