Research
Adherence
Females bear a disproportionately higher burden of malnutrition-related mortality and DALYs compared to males, while males experience higher obesity-related DALYs, indicating sex-specific vulnerabilities in the double burden of disease.
Nutrition and health policies must be sex-specific. Women face higher risks of malnutrition due to biological needs and social inequities in food access, while men face higher risks of obesity. Interventions should address these distinct vulnerabilities rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The higher rates of malnutrition-related outcomes in females emphasise several biological and social underpinnings. Food insecurity has been shown to be more prevalent in women than in men across the world, with increased nutritional demands due to secondary sexual characteristics... Moreover, discriminatory customs and practices prioritising men’s dietary requirements also leave women to eat last, and eat less.
Why this rating
Based on GBD 2019 data stratified by sex.
Source
Trends and predictions of malnutrition and obesity in 204 countries and territories: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019
Bryan Chong et al. · EClinicalMedicine · 2023
DOI 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101850
cohortCited 294×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Global efforts to reduce malnutrition have been more than offset by a rapidly rising obesity burden, resulting in a widening 'double burden' of disease where obesity-related disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) now vastly exceed malnutrition-related DALYs.Good
- Obesity-related mortality and DALYs are highest in low-to-middle Socio-Demographic Index (SDI) countries, whereas malnutrition burden is concentrated in low SDI countries, creating a distinct geographic and socioeconomic split in the double burden of disease.Good
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