HEALTH ALERT: NEW GLOBAL FOOD INDEX RANKS NETHERLANDS NO. 1

NEW GLOBAL FOOD INDEX RANKS NETHERLANDS NO. 1

Published January 16, 2014 in Food Product Design

Posted in News, Science & Research, International, Healthy, Healthy Foods, Nutrition, Diet, Economics,Demographic, Costs, Obesity, Diabetes, Quality, Children, Water, Food Safety, World Health Organization (WHO)

WASHINGTON—The Netherlands is No. 1 in the world for having the most plentiful, nutritious, healthy and affordable diet, beating France and Switzerland into second place. Chad is last in the 125th spot behind Ethiopia and Angola, according to a new food index by Oxfam.

Oxfam’s “Good Enough to Eat" index compares 125 countries with adequate available data to create a snapshot of the different challenges people face in getting food. The index looks at whether people have enough to eat, food quality, affordability and dietary health. Information for the index was gathered from eight established global data sources from various organizations, such as the World Health Organization.

European countries occupy the entire top 20, bar one—Australia ties in 8th place—while the United States, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil and Canada all fall outside. African countries occupy the bottom 30 places with the exception of four—Laos, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India are also among the bottom 30.
The United Kingdom ranked among the worst in Western Europe when it came to affordability, sharing 20th position with Cyprus. Food in Guinea, The Gambia, Chad and Iran costs consumers two-and-a-half times more than other goods, making those the most expensive countries for citizens to buy food. The price of food in the United States is relatively the cheapest and most stable in the world, whereas Angola and Zimbabwe suffer from the most volatile food prices, researchers found. However, food price volatility has been an ongoing global issue, and is expected to continue in coming years.

Cambodia and Burundi have among the lowest levels of obesity and diabetes in the world, compared to the United States, Mexico, Fiji, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, which had the highest. The countries with the worst rates of malnourishment and underweight children are Burundi, Yemen, Madagascar and India. According to a 2013 report, approximately 842 million people still suffer from chronic hunger.
Iceland scored a perfect mark for the quality of its food, in terms of nutritional diversity and safe water. However, obesity and diabetes levels pushed Iceland down the table to 13th spot. Similarly, unhealthy eating pushes the United States down to 21st place.

Sources:

• Oxfam: Dutch beat French and Swiss to top Oxfam’s new global food table

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