ROME, July 22 -- One in three people around the world cannot afford a healthy diet, the United Nations reported this week, in an annual assessment of global food security that found structural barriers to nutrition deepening in low- and middle-income countries even as the headline figures on hunger have remained stubbornly flat for three consecutive years.

The findings come from the 2026 edition of the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, published jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme, and three other UN agencies. The report draws on household survey data, food price indices, and agricultural statistics from 139 countries to produce the most comprehensive global accounting available of ...