Nutrition research spans food access, dietary exposure, child growth, body-weight categories and health outcomes. The statistics below distinguish global estimates, U.S. household surveys, modeled dietary risks and forecasts because these measures describe different populations and definitions.
Key Nutrition Research Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- In 2022, an estimated 735 million people faced hunger worldwide, with a reported range of 691 million to 783 million.
- In 2022, 2.4 billion people, or 29.6% of the global population, lacked constant access to food.
- In 2021, more than 3.1 billion people, or 42% of the world, could not afford a healthy diet.
- In 2024, 13.7% of U.S. households, representing 18.3 million households, were food insecure at some time during the year.
- In 2022, 149 million children under age 5 were estimated to be stunted worldwide.
- In 2022, 45 million children under age 5 were estimated to be wasted worldwide.
- In 2022, 37 million children under age 5 were overweight or living with obesity worldwide.
- In 2022, about 2.5 billion adults worldwide were overweight.
- In 2022, about 890 million adults worldwide were living with obesity.
- In 2022, about 390 million adults worldwide were underweight.
- In 2022, 390 million people aged 5–19 were overweight worldwide.
- In 2022, 160 million people aged 5–19 were living with obesity worldwide.
- In 2017, dietary risks were attributable to 11 million deaths globally, with a 95% uncertainty interval of 10–12 million.
- In 2017, dietary risks accounted for 22% of all adult deaths globally, with a 95% uncertainty interval of 21–24%.
- In 2022, 48% of infants younger than 6 months were exclusively breastfed worldwide.
- If current trends continue, nearly 600 million people are projected to face hunger in 2030.
Contents
- Global hunger and food insecurity statistics
- Healthy-diet affordability and food-access data
- Child malnutrition statistics: stunting, wasting and overweight
- Adult and adolescent nutrition trends
- Dietary risks and health burden
- Breastfeeding, targets and nutrition progress
Global Hunger and Food Insecurity Statistics
The UN SOFI 2023 reporting summarized hunger as chronic undernourishment, while food insecurity measures access to adequate food. These are related but non-interchangeable indicators.
| Measure | Period and geography | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Hunger | 2022, world | 691–783 million people; midpoint 735 million |
| Change in midpoint hunger estimate | 2019–2022, world | 122 million more people |
| Moderate or severe food insecurity | 2022, world | 2.4 billion people, 29.6% |
| Severe food insecurity | 2022, world | Around 900 million people |
| Projected hunger | 2030, world | Nearly 600 million people if trends continue |
The midpoint estimate of 735 million people facing hunger in 2022 was 122 million higher than the 2019 estimate, but the reported comparison is not a causal estimate of the pandemic or any single shock. Africa had about one in five people facing hunger in 2022, more than twice the global average. UN report via WHO
The same report projected nearly 600 million people would still face hunger in 2030 if current trends continued. This is a conditional scenario projection, not an observed 2030 count.
In the United States, the 2024 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement found that 86.3% of households were food secure throughout the year, while 13.7%, or 18.3 million households, were food insecure at some time. Food insecurity means insufficient money or resources to acquire adequate food. USDA, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024
Healthy-Diet Affordability and Food-Access Data
Affordability estimates describe whether people could purchase a healthy diet at modeled prices; they do not directly measure what people actually ate. In 2021, more than 3.1 billion people, or 42% of the world, could not afford a healthy diet, an increase of 134 million people from 2019.
U.S. household food-security categories provide a more specific survey lens for 2024:
- 8.3% of U.S. households, or 11.1 million households, had low food security; this generally involved reduced variety without substantial disruption of intake.
- 5.4% of U.S. households, or 7.2 million households, had very low food security, including disrupted eating patterns or reduced intake because food was unaffordable.
- Among U.S. households with children, 81.6% were food secure and 18.4%, or 6.7 million households, were food insecure.
- In 9.1% of U.S. households with children, both children and adults were food insecure, representing 3.3 million households.
- In 0.9% of U.S. households with children, children experienced very low food security, representing 318,000 households.
The household measure does not imply that every member experienced food insecurity equally. The child very-low-food-security measure reflects caregiver reports of child hunger, skipped meals or a whole day without eating because of insufficient money for food. USDA, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024
Child Malnutrition Statistics: Stunting, Wasting and Overweight
Child anthropometric indicators describe different growth outcomes. Stunting means too short for age, wasting means too thin for height, and overweight is a separate category rather than the reverse of undernutrition.
| Indicator | 2022 global estimate, under age 5 | Share where supplied |
|---|---|---|
| Stunting | 148–149 million children | 22.3% |
| Wasting | 45 million children | 6.8% |
| Overweight | 37 million children | 5.6% |
The WHO malnutrition fact sheet estimated 149 million children under age 5 were stunted, 45 million were wasted and 37 million were overweight or living with obesity in 2022. The SOFI 2023 release gave closely related figures of 148 million, 45 million and 37 million, respectively; slight differences can reflect revisions and source coverage. WHO, Malnutrition UN report via WHO
Progress toward the 2030 child targets remains uneven. About one third of countries were on track to halve the number of children affected by stunting, and only one in six countries was on track for the child-overweight target of 3% prevalence in the 2023 assessment.
About one quarter of countries could not be assessed for stunting progress.
With current progress, the 2030 global stunting target is projected to be missed by 39.5 million children, with more than 80% of those projected children expected to live in Africa. UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group, 2023 child malnutrition estimates
Adult and Adolescent Nutrition Trends
Adult and youth measures use different thresholds. For adults, overweight is generally BMI 25 or higher, obesity is generally BMI 30 or higher, and underweight is a separate category; for ages 5–19, BMI-for-age thresholds apply.
| Population and measure | 2022 worldwide estimate |
|---|---|
| Adults aged 18+ who were overweight | 2.5 billion |
| Adults aged 18+ living with obesity | 890 million |
| Adults aged 18+ who were underweight | 390 million |
| Ages 5–19 who were overweight | 390 million |
| Ages 5–19 living with obesity | 160 million |
| Ages 5–19 living with thinness | 190 million |
The adult overweight estimate includes adults with obesity, so the two adult figures must not be added. WHO also reported that 43% of adults worldwide were overweight in 2022 and that more than 1 billion people worldwide were living with obesity. WHO, Malnutrition WHO, One in eight people are now living with obesity
Worldwide obesity among children and adolescents aged 5–19 quadrupled between 1990 and 2022. This is a relative trend, not a percentage-point change, and youth classifications should not be compared directly with adult BMI categories. WHO, One in eight people are now living with obesity
Dietary-Risk Nutrition Statistics and Health Burden
The Global Burden of Disease analysis used comparative-risk modeling. Its estimates are not direct clinical counts of individually diagnosed diet-caused deaths, and DALYs combine years of life lost with years lived with disability.
| Modeled outcome | 2017 global estimate | Uncertainty interval |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths attributable to dietary risks | 11 million | 10–12 million |
| DALYs attributable to dietary risks | 255 million | 234–274 million |
| Share of adult deaths | 22% | 21–24% |
| Share of adult DALYs | 15% | 14–17% |
| Diet-related cardiovascular deaths | About 10 million | 9–10 million |
| Diet-related cardiovascular DALYs | 207 million | 192–222 million |
Dietary risks accounted for more than 5 million deaths among adults younger than 70 in 2017, representing 45% of total diet-related deaths. Cancer accounted for 913,090 diet-related deaths, and type 2 diabetes accounted for 338,714, with the supplied uncertainty intervals reflecting modeled input and effect-size uncertainty.
Low whole-grain intake was the leading dietary risk for deaths in 16 of 21 GBD regions and for DALYs in 17 of 21 regions in 2017. These rankings depend on the GBD risk hierarchy and comparative-risk assumptions. GBD 2017 systematic analysis
The same study estimated global mean intake of nuts and seeds at about 3 grams per day, or 12% of its modeled optimal level; milk at 71 grams per day, or 16%; and whole grains at 29 grams per day, or 23%. Mean sodium intake was about 6 grams per day, 86% above the modeled optimal amount, while processed-meat intake was about 4 grams per day, 90% above the modeled optimal amount.
These optimal levels are theoretical minimum-risk exposure references, not universal prescriptions. The sodium figure should retain the study’s underlying definition because sodium may be reported as sodium or salt-equivalent in source data. GBD 2017 systematic analysis
Breastfeeding, Nutrition Targets and Progress
In 2022, 48% of infants younger than 6 months were exclusively breastfed worldwide. The estimate was close to but below the 2025 target referenced in the SOFI report. UN report via WHO
The 2030 global stunting target is 89 million children. Current-progress projections indicate that more than 80% of the children expected to be missed by that target will live in Africa, while nearly half of countries lacked enough information to assess progress toward wasting targets in the 2023 assessment.
Progress toward stunting targets could not be assessed for about one quarter of countries. These gaps reflect insufficient comparable data, not evidence that the countries had no progress. UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group, 2023 child malnutrition estimates
Nutrition planning also takes place amid demographic change. Almost seven in ten people are projected to live in cities by 2050, a contextual urbanization forecast cited by SOFI rather than a nutrition outcome. UN report via WHO
Nearly half of deaths among children under age 5 are linked to undernutrition, according to the WHO’s broad current global estimate, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This is not a cause-of-death count for a single year. WHO, Malnutrition