Egypt’s pre-school children and adults suffer chronically from malnutrition, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
The main problem among children younger than five years is stunting, as one-third of them have the issue, while many Egyptian adults, over 40%, suffer from obesity, FAO official in charge of nutrition in the regional office Fatma Hashem said.
Obesity is not constrained to rich segments but is also very prevalent among the poor, she said.
The nutrition pattern of poor segments is unbalanced as it is mainly built on bread, oil and sugar, all contain high calories with no real nutrition benefits, Hashem said during a celebration held here marking the United Nations Day.