Albania made zero progress towards reducing obesity in the last year, with almost a quarter of adults being considered overweight. Albanian men are more likely than women to be overweight, surpassing the regional average of 24.9%, according to the Global Nutrition Report 2021.
Likely as a consequence of the obesity rate, diabetes impacts 7.8% of women and 8.9% of men in the country. Even more concerning is the fact that 16.4% of children are now overweight. Overall, the country has made limited progress towards achieving diet-related non-communicable disease targets. Furthermore, no progress was noted in tackling rising obesity numbers.
In other areas of health, Albania is on course to meet targets for maternal, infant, and young child nutrition. While there has been no improvement in the number of women of reproductive age suffering from anaemia (24.8%), improvements were made in other areas. Only 4.6% of infants are born with a low birthrate, which is an improvement on previous years according to the report.
It also notes that 36.5% of infants between zero and five months are exclusively breastfed, suggesting this could increase. Almost 60% of mothers start with breastfeeding, and around 25% continue until the child is two.
Albania is also on course to meet targets for stunted children, but 11.3% of all under-fives are still affected. A further 1.6% under five are also impacted by wasting or failure to thrive.
Other areas of concern, designated as “of course”, include lessening the sodium intake of individuals and tackling blood pressure. These areas could be worked on, along with increasing breastfeeding rates and reducing anaemia in women aged between 15-49.
The report noted Albania is missing policies on reducing sodium, eliminating industrially-produced trans-fatty acids, and a sugar-sweetened beverage tax. It also found no government or institutional plans to tackle reducing anaemia, low birth weight, childhood stunting, childhood wasting, child obesity, sodium intake, or blood sugar levels.
