Retrofitting food and nutrition programmes to curb the global syndemic of undernutrition, obesity and climate change

To investigate the potential of food security and nutrition programmes to simultaneously address the global syndemic of undernutrition, obesity and climate change, a policy document analysis of World Food Programme (WFP) activities was carried out, using Laos as a case study. A framework for the double burden of malnutrition was adapted, defining six intermediate-level modifiable factors for the global syndemic. Information on 11 WFP food security and nutrition programmes in Laos for all populations was extracted from 33 WFP documents and assessed using the framework method approach. Firstly, current programmes were assessed to determine if they could serve as a platform to address the six factors. Next, identification of pathways to undernutrition, obesity and climate change outcomes was used to determine which programmes were already double or triple duty. Finally, potential adaptations to retrofit programmes into triple duty actions were proposed, drawing on double and triple duty actions from the literature. The analysis found that all 11 programmes provided the opportunity to address two or more factors, four programmes were already double duty and five triple duty, and all programmes in theory could be retrofitted to become triple duty actions through adaptations identified in the literature. These findings suggest that food security and nutrition programmes do have potential to address the global syndemic.