The dominance of undernourishment among Fijians has been reduced from 6.6% in 1990-1992 to 4% in the most recent survey.

This has been confirmed by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama while delivering the country statement at the Food and Agricultural Organization conference in Rome today.

He says this fact has been acknowledged by the award Fiji received yesterday for achieving its goal to cut hunger by half in 2012, three years before the 2015 deadline.

Bainimarama says more Fijians are eating better and their levels of nourishment have reached acceptable standards.

He adds this is a very positive sign and we must do everything we can to keep improving this record.

The rate of undernourished children in Fiji also declined from 15% to 6% in the 29 years between 1980 and 2009.

However, there are still challenges in reducing the prevalence of malnutrition in children 5 years old and under.

Bainimarama says many children still suffer from “stunting” or low height for age because of long term insufficient nutrient intake, “wasting” or low weight for height for the same reason; or micronutrient deficiencies resulting mainly from diets that lack essential vitamins and minerals.

The Prime Minister highlighted that anaemia-an insufficient intake of iron remains widespread among women and girls affecting about half of those under the age of 5.

He says the government has introduced a number of initiatives to control these problems.

Bainimarama added that the fight to eradicate malnutrition, hunger and food insecurity in Fiji goes on just as it does throughout the developing world.

Meanwhile, FAO’s Director General Dr Jose Graziano da Silva has called attention to the complete eradication of chronic undernourishment.

This, together with ending malnutrition has been included in the Sustainable Development Goals which will be finalized later this year setting the global development agenda for the decades to come.