Is the US worse than North Korea for malnutrition deaths?
About this episode
The episode discusses a claim about malnutrition deaths in the US compared to North Korea and China, featuring insights from Dr. Krstina Newport.
This surprising claim was spotted circulating on social media: ‘The United States has surpassed China and North Korea in deaths from malnutrition’. The claim used analysis from the Global Burden of Disease database for their sums. The data does indeed show that the US records more deaths from Malnutrition than China and North Korea. The rate in the US was 2.8 deaths per 100,000 compared to just 1.7 deaths per 100,000 for North Korea. From what we know about the two countries this seems unlikely, so what’s going on here? We talk to Dr Krstina Newport, Chief Medical officer for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine to find out more. If you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at, email moreorless@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Lizzy McNeill Series Producer: Tom Colls Editor: Richard Vadon Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Mix: Duncan Hannant
People in this episode
Host: Tim Harford
Guest: Dr Krstina Newport
Topics covered
- malnutrition
- public health
- data analysis
- international comparison
- social media claims
Keywords
- malnutrition deaths
- Global Burden of Disease
- US health statistics
- North Korea
- China
- public health debate
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine, BBC Radio 4
Places: United States, China, North Korea
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