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4th International Congress Hidden Hunger:

Hidden hunger and the transformation of food systems: How to combat the double burden of malnutrition?

February 27 - March 1, 2019 / Stuttgart, Germany

The 4th Congress Hidden Hunger was a continuation of the successful, international event series "Congress Hidden Hunger" which started in 2013 in Stuttgart, Germany.

As in case of the previous congresses in this series, the 4th Congress Hidden Hunger brought together members of different disciplines: nutritionists, agricultural scientists, economists and sociologists. Moreover, the congress encouraged the dialogue between scientists, policy-makers and representatives of non-governmental organizations and the private sector. It was dedicated to review the available evidence on the double burden of malnutrition, present new research findings on underlying causes and consequences, feature innovative strategies and discuss the roles and responsibilities of governments, development organizations, civil society and the private sector in combating the double burden of malnutrition.

The "Congress Hidden Hunger" provides a platform for global interactions of members belonging to the scientific community, representatives from politics, government and the media as well as members of civil society organizations, advocacy groups and private and public sector bodies. The considerable and continuous feedback to the first three congresses convinced the organizers to host further congresses of the international event series "Congress Hidden Hunger".

Background:

During the past decade, the problem of hidden hunger has become increasingly recognized by the international development community. However, as developing countries enter a transformation of their food systems due to urbanization and industrialization, another malnutrition challenge is becoming increasingly important: overweight and obesity. The World Health Organization (WHO) has called this problem the “double burden of malnutrition”, which is “characterized by the coexistence of undernutrition along with overweight and obesity, or diet related non-communicable diseases, within individuals, households and populations, and across the life course.”

Nutritionists and development economists have recognized the coexistence of energy and micronutrient deficiency on the one hand and overweight/obesity on the other as a rising threat for developing countries. A coexistence of micro-nutrient deficiency and obesity can even be observed in high-income countries among groups with low socio-economic status (for more details see below). The Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2) envisages to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. However, there are still considerable knowledge gaps both regarding the underlying causes of the double burden of malnutrition and regarding its consequences. Moreover, there is an urgent need to better understand which strategies that can be used to effectively address the double burden problem of malnutrition. Therefore, the 4th Hidden Hunger Congress will focus on this problem.

A systematic review showed that the coexistence of undernutrition and overnutrition within the same household ranges worldwide between 0% and 27%, in particular affecting countries in Africa and Asia (Kosaka and Umezaki 2017). The fatal coincidence of stunting (reduced growth and impaired cognitive development) and obesity increases the risk of children suffering from non-communicable diseases (NCD) as adults or even as adolescents (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome). Children from low and middle income countries are primarily affected (Bates et al. 2017), where prevalence of stunting and overweight is between 0.3% and 11.7%. The problem is associated with the transformation of food systems in increasingly urbanized societies towards growing consumption of energy-dense but micronutrient-poor food. Together with low dietary diversity and the dominance of starchy food in the diet, this combination favors the development of malnutrition and obesity in children. Furthermore, a poor supply of vitamin A, vitamin D, folate, iron, zinc and iodine is evident. What has remained largely unrecognized is the fact that the coexistence of overnutrition and micronutrient deficiency continues to persist in high-income countries where it affects populations with low socioeconomic status (Min et al. 2018). For example, a poor supply of micronutrients (vitamin D, folate, iron, iodine) has been described in German toddlers and a large-scale study (253.000 children) in Brandenburg documented a decline in heights for children of unemployed parents or families living in poverty (Hilbig et al. 2015, Baten and Böhm 2009).

References:

Kosaka S, Umezaki M (2017). A systematic review of the prevalence and predictors of the double burden of malnutrition within households. Br J Nutr 117(8):1118-1127

Bates K, Gjonça A, Leone T (2017). Double burden or double counting of child malnutrition? The methodological and theoretical implications of stunting-overweight in low and middle income countries. J Epidemiol Community Health 71(8):779-785

Min J, Zhao Y, Slivka L, Wang Y (2018). Double burden of diseases worldwide: coexistence of undernutrition and overnutrition-related non-communicable chronic diseases. Obes Rev 19(1):49-61

Hilbig A, Drossard C, Kersting M, Alexy U (2015). Nutrient adequacy and associated factors in a nationwide sample of German toddlers. J Paediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 61(1): 130-137

Baten J, Böhm A (2009). Children’s height and parental unemployment: a large-scale anthropometric study on eastern Germany, 1994–2006. German Economic Review 11: 1-24

Organizers

The 4th International Congress Hidden Hunger 2019 was organized by the Institute of Biological Chemistry and Nutrition at the University of Hohenheim and the Society of Nutrition and Food Science (SNFS). Cooperating partner was the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Congress Chairs:

(WITHOUT ACADEMIC TITLES)

Hans K. Biesalski
Institute of Biological Chemistry and Nutrition
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

Regina Birner
Institute of Agricultural Sciences in the Tropics,
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

Congress Secretary/Project Management:

(WITHOUT ACADEMIC TITLES)

Jana Tinz
Institute of Biological Chemistry and Nutrition
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

Congress Office:

(WITHOUT ACADEMIC TITLES)

Jana Tinz
Institute of Biological Chemistry and Nutrition / Food Security Center (FSC)
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany

Advisory Board:

(WITHOUT ACADEMIC TITLES)

Leslie Amoroso
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Italy

Zulfiqar A. Bhutta
Hospital for Sick Children and SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, Canada
and Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Pakistan

Francesco Branca
World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland

Johanna Dwyer
School of Medicine and Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, USA

Hanns-Christoph Eiden
Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), Germany

Almut Feller
BerufsVerband Oecotrophologie (Professional Association of Oecotrophology), Germany

Jan Frank
University of Hohenheim and Society of Nutrition and Food Science (SNFS), Germany

Heike Henn
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Germany

Philipp Keil
Stiftung Entwicklungszusammenarbeit Baden-Württemberg (SEZ), Germany

Stephan Krall
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Germany

Mathias Mogge
Welthungerhilfe e. V., Germany

Matin Qaim
Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany

Fatiha Terki
World Food Programme (WFP), Italy

Joachim von Braun
Center for Development Research (ZEF), Germany

Manfred Zeller
University of Hohenheim, Germany

Program & Congress Booklet

Please download congress booklet including the program here:

Sponsors, Supporters & Partners

Sincere thanks go to the sponsors, supporters and partners for their valuable support as well as their active contribution!

The Look back

Best Poster Award:

	The Society of Nutrition and Food Science (SNFS) awarded the three best poster presentations with a prize of ech 200 €. We are delighted to announce the three presenters below: T. Randrianajaina (1), J, Rambeloson Zo (1,2), M. Rakotondravelo (1), J. Rambeloson (3), E. Rambelontsalama, M. Rasolojaona, R. Seidel (2) (1: Concept Mihary, Antananarivo, Madagasikara, 2: FHI360, North Carolina, USA, 3: George Mason University, USA): “Tackling malnutrition by transforming an annual plague into a nutrition opportunity for families in Madagascar" Yaqi Li (1), Cheng-Hsin Wei (1), Michael H. Green (1), A. Catharine Ross (1) (1: Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA): “Unfavorable change in vitamin A kinetics induced by iron deficiency is reversed by iron repletion in rats” D. Momanyi (1), W. Owino (1), A. Makokha (1), T.-Y. Habte (2), E. Evang (2), M. Krawinkel (2) (1: Jomo Kanyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, 2: Justus-Liebig –University): “The Potential Role of Baobab in Food Security in Kilifi and Kitui Counties of Kenya?” Congratulations to the winners!

Publications:

1.) Book:

For further info related to the book please click below:

2.) Summary Report:

To download the Summary Report please click below:

3rd International Congress Hidden Hunger:

Post-2015 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals: Where are we now? Strategies to improve nutrition quality and combat hidden hunger

March 20-22, 2017 / Stuttgart, Germany

In March 2017, the 3rd Congress Hidden Hunger considered the question of how far the Post-2015 Agenda and other programs and measures adopted in 2015 to fight against world famine and poverty have already been implemented. To achieve this, political parties and industry representatives as well as representatives of civil society and advocacy groups (NGOs) were invited to take a position. Furthermore, successfully established projects and initiatives (such as the special initiative "One World – No Hunger" of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)) were presented at the congress.

Young scientists and members of small organizations had the opportunity to apply for a scholarship to participate in the congress. They were invited to supplement the event with a presentation of their ideas for cooperation and implementation of different measures in the fight against world famine. It was important that all participants presented and discussed the specific objectives of such measures and how they are to be regionally implemented.