Chronic illness, difficulty eating on their own, and even loneliness are just some of the reasons why people over-65 are more likely to be malnourished.
Africa has focused on tackling undernutrition caused by low calorie diets.
IFPRI
Sheryl L Hendriks, University of Pretoria; Katrin Glatzel, The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) , and Ousmane Badiane, The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Policy choices made by Senegal, Ghana, Rwanda, Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Togo over the past 15 years have led to significant reductions in child undernourishment.
A Malawian woman carries a bag of maize meal.
Reuters/ Mike Hutchings
Inequalities in the nutritional status of poor and rich have been mitigated through various social protection policies, but children in South Africa remain at risk of malnutrition.
In many rural areas, poor people are suffering from malnutrition, which takes the form of stunting and obesity. To change this, their food environments must change.
School nutrition programmes help reduce the risk of children developing obesity.
Tiger Brands Foundation
Over the last three years Kenya has seen marked improvements in its nutrition-related targets as a result of a national nutrition plan it has implemented.
A health worker measures an infant’s growth. Children who are undernourished in their first 1000 days of life, could suffer from stunting later.
2014 Global Communities, Courtesy of Photoshare