Europe, Central Asia face nutritional deficits: UN agency

United Nations: The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Tuesday painted a picture of persistent nutrition problems due to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and stunted growth in its latest snapshot of Europe and Central Asia.

On the eve of its biennial Regional Conference for Europe, which is to be held in Bucharest, Romania, FAO said although caloric intake in the 53-country region should see hunger fall to less than 1 percent by 2050, nutrition problems continue in some of the countries today, Xinhua reported.

"Caloric intake as a measure of undernourishment is currently not the major problem," said a FAO document.

For many countries a more significant problem is the lack of adequate micronutrient intake and the sub-optimal quality of diets, often ranking lower than other regions of the world, UN officials said here.