Figure 2.1: Proportion of the world’s children under 5 years living with underweight or overweight, 2000-2040
years predicts a transition occurring in the mid-2030's. At this point, it is expected that the prevalence of overweight For children 5-19 years, estimated trends and projections for the prevalence of underweight and obesity show the transition occurring earlier, in the mid-2020s. For the first time, a greater proportion of children willbe experiencing obesity than underweight across the world's population. This was also reported by UNICEF in their 2025 Child Nutrition Report, which found 2025 to be the year that the global prevalence of obesity among school-age children and adolescents first exceeded underweight (UNICEF, 2025). This reflects a major shift in global malnutrition trends