Concurrently, rising urbanization and income in developing cities have caused an increased consumption of processed foods and "fast food", accompanied by a higher predisposition to lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and certain cancers. China 's dual burden of malnutrition ; under - nutrition and over - nutrition ( due to the overweight and obesity ) , is placing an enormous burden on its public health system and has wider negative impacts on productivity , leading to higher business costs and ultimately , hampering economic growth . Despite halving the number , around 158 million people in China are undernourished , meanwhile it has the second highest number of obese people in the world . The authors of this article examine ways of attracting new sources of capital to tackle the enormity of the problem . These include : how to offer a volume guarantees to ensure purchases of nutrition products at a sufficient quantity and quality to encourage growth in production ; a nutrition - focused investment fund that could help spur investment into nutrition projects ; and appealing to foundations and philanthropists .
China 's dual burden of malnutrition ; under - nutrition and over - nutrition ( due to the overweight and obesity ) , is placing an enormous burden on its public health system and has wider negative impacts on productivity , leading to higher business costs and ultimately , hampering economic growth . Despite halving the number , around 158 million people in China are undernourished , meanwhile it has the second highest number of obese people in the world . The authors of this article examine ways of attracting new sources of capital to tackle the enormity of the problem . These include : how to offer a volume guarantees to ensure purchases of nutrition products at a sufficient quantity and quality to encourage growth in production ; a nutrition - focused investment fund that could help spur investment into nutrition projects ; and appealing to foundations and philanthropists .