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The CSO, through Ireland's Institute for SDGs (IIS), supports reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals.
SDG 2.1.1 Prevalence of undernourishment is published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 2.1.1 metadata document:
The prevalence of undernourishment (PoU) is an estimate of the proportion of the population whose habitual food consumption is insufficient to provide the dietary energy levels that are required to maintain a normal active and healthy life. It is expressed as a percentage.
According to the FAO the prevalence of undernourishment in Ireland continued to be estimated to be less than 2.5% in 2021. See Table 4.1.
SDG 2.1.2 Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) is reported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. Additional information is provided in the CSO Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) Enforced Deprivation.
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 2.1.2 metadata document:
SDG 2.1.2 measures the percentage of individuals in the population who have experienced food insecurity at moderate or severe levels during the reference period. The severity of food insecurity, defined as a latent trait, is measured on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale global reference scale, a measurement standard established by FAO through the application of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale in more than 140 countries worldwide, starting in 2014.
According to the FAO, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in males over the age of 15 years was 6.4%, higher than that of females which was 4.5%. The rate was 5.4% for all ages in 2021.
In 2021, the prevalence of severe food insecurity was 2.4% for all ages, lower than the 2020 rate of 3.2%. See Table 4.2.
The Deprivation Items chapter in the latest SILC report states that the proportion of people living in households unable to afford a roast joint (or its equivalent) once a week went up from 3.3% in 2022 to 4.2% in 2023. In 2022, just over one in a hundred (1.2%) were unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day. The 2023 rate is slightly higher at 1.6%.
Analysis by the respondents’ principal economic status (as defined by the respondent themselves) shows that the percentage of people unable to work due to long-standing health problems who were unable to afford a roast joint (or its equivalent) once a week went up from 11.0% in 2022 to 17.9% in 2023. The rate for those who described themselves as unemployed went up from 9.6% in 2022 to 14.9% in 2023.
Similar increases in the percentage of people who were unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish, (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day were not seen. The percentage of people unable to work due to long-standing health problems who were unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish, (or vegetarian equivalent) every second day increased slightly from 7.6% in 2022 to 7.9% in 2023. The comparable rate for unemployed people actually dropped from 3.7% in 2022 to 2.7% in 2023. See Table 4.3.
SDG 2.2.1 Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age - this data is not regularly produced at a national level. Data from the National Pre-School Nutrition Survey (NPNS), Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance (IUNA) in 2012 is published in the previous SDG Goal 2 report, in SDG 2.2.2 section.
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 2.2.1 metadata document:
Prevalence of stunting (height-for-age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age.
SDG 2.2.2 Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (overweight and wasting).
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 2.2.2 (a) metadata document:
Prevalence of overweight (weight for height >+2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age.
Some information on this indicator is in the SDG 2.2.2 section in the Ireland's UN SDGs 2019 - Report on Indicators for Goal 2 Zero Hunger.
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 2.2.2 (b) metadata document:
Prevalence of wasting (weight for height <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age.
The Growing up in Ireland, Key Findings: Infant Cohort (at 5 years) (PDF 919 KB) is the third in a series of key findings from the third wave of interviews with the infant cohort in Growing Up in Ireland, when the study child was five years of age. The families of around 11,100 children were initially interviewed in 2008/2009 when the study children were nine months old. They were reinterviewed between January and August 2011 when the children were three years of age, and between March and September 2013, when the children were five years old.
The report follows the physical health and development of the children from birth to the age of five, examining their well-being, play and diet. Measures of child height and weight were used to track normal physical development as well as obesity, which can have long-term physical, social, and emotional consequences for the child.
Children’s height and weight measurements were used to calculate their Body Mass Index (BMI). Thresholds recommended by the International Obesity Task Force were used to determine if children were not overweight (which includes underweight), overweight or obese. See Figure 4.1.
| X-axis label | 3 years | 5 years |
|---|---|---|
| Not overweight | 76 | 80 |
| Overweight | 19 | 15 |
| Obese | 5 | 5 |
One in five five-year-olds was overweight or obese.
See Figure 4.2.
| X-axis label | Boys | Girls |
|---|---|---|
| Not overweight | 82 | 78 |
| Overweight | 13 | 17 |
| Obese | 5 | 6 |
The Healthy Weight for Children (0-6 years) Framework, November 2018 (PDF 3.4 MB) is published by the Health Service Executive.
This report states that all of the available data indicate that a high proportion of children in Ireland are overweight or obese and the main findings from the GUI study include:
SDG 2.2.3 Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status is published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The SDG indicators metadata repository provides the following definition in the SDG 2.2.3 metadata document:
Percentage of women aged 15-49 years with a haemoglobin concentration less than 120 g/L for nonpregnant women and lactating women, and less than 110 g/L for pregnant women, adjusted for altitude and smoking.
According to the WHO, anaemia was present in 12.1% of all women aged 15-49 years in 2019. 17% of pregnant women in this age cohort were anaemic in and 11.9% of non-pregnant women were anaemic in 2019. See Table 4.4.
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