Is the US worse than North Korea for malnutrition deaths?

The claim that the United States has surpassed North Korea and China in malnutrition death rates is a statistical artifact caused by differences in data collection and medical documentation rather than a genuine surge in starvation. While Global Burden of Disease data shows a US rate of 2.8 deaths per 100,000 compared to North Korea’s 1.7, figures for North Korea are highly unreliable due to a lack of independent UN access. In the US, the apparent rise since 2012 stems from a clinical initiative by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition to better document weight loss as a quality-of-care metric. Dr. Krstina Newport, a palliative care expert, explains that malnutrition is now frequently listed on death certificates for elderly patients—particularly those over 85—as a symptom of primary conditions like cancer or dementia rather than a lack of food access. Consequently, these figures reflect improved medical tracking of secondary symptoms rather than an increase in primary malnutrition.