One-third of the world’s nearly 700 million children under five years old are

One-third of the world’s nearly 700 million children under five years old are undernourished or overweight and face lifelong health problems as a consequence,according to a grim United Nations’ assessment of childhood nutrition released on Tuesday.Problems that once existed at opposite ends of the wealth spectrum have today converged in poor and middle-income countries,the report showed.Despite a nearly 40 percent drop in stunted growth in poor countries from 1990 to 2015,149 million children aged four or younger are today still too short for their age,a clinical condition that impairs both brain and body development.Another 50 million are afflicted by wasting,a chronic and debilitating thinness also born of poverty.At the same time,half of youngsters across the globe under five are not getting essential vitamins and minerals,a long-standing problem UNICEF has dubbed “hidden hunger”.Over the past decades,however,another form of child malnutrition has surged across the developing world：excess weight.