10 things to know about hunger
![Malnourished two-year-old Dhoah Thoan is fed at a hospital ward in Akobo in southeastern Sudan's Jonglei state April 10, 2010. The UN recently called Akobo "the hungriest place on earth" after years of failed rains and tribal clashes that killed more than 2,000 people during the past year. REUTERS/Mohamed Dahir (SUDAN - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY ELECTIONS POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY)](https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_gYpSF2jypC0apE4NxXYmSzp56vRTYMt9RxgJfCQHo-4.jpg)
Global hunger has risen for a third consecutive year. Image: REUTERS/Mohamed Dahir
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Africa
Global hunger rose in 2017 for a third consecutive year, fuelled by conflict and climate change, the United Nations revealed in a report published on Tuesday. Obesity levels also increased.
Here are some facts and figures from the report.
- World hunger levels rose in 2017 for the third consecutive year.
- Globally 821 million people, or one in nine, do not have enough food to eat.
- In sub-Saharan Africa, more than one in four may have suffered from chronic hunger in 2017.
- Asia has the largest number of undernourished people due to is sheer size - 515 million.
- Nearly 151 million children under five suffered from stunting due to malnutrition, a condition that hampers physical and mental development.
- More than 50 million children under five are too thin for their height and more than 38 million are overweight.
- One in eight adults - 672 million - is obese.
- Almost 36 percent of countries that experienced a rise in hunger since 2005 also suffered from severe drought.
- Floods cause more climate-related disasters globally than any other extreme climate event.
- Between 2011 and 2016, 51 low- and middle-income countries experienced early or delayed onset of seasons.
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