World Food Day 2019: the date and this year's theme

World Food Day is observed on October 16 in over 150 countries, making it one of the most celebrated United Nation days of the year.

A Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations initiative, it was devised to honour FAO's foundation and aims to raise awareness about food availability and production around the world.

Each year centres on a theme, and this year the focus is 'Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World'.

Currently, over 800 million people suffer from hunger, and to tackle this, the UN is working towards achieving Zero Hunger by 2030.

Central to the day will be highlighting healthier ways to eat. Because in addition to the alarming hunger statistics, over 670 million adults and 120 million children (between five and 19 years) across the world are obese, and over 40 million children under the age of five are overweight.

World Food Day is encouraging people to make healthier choices: to add more fruit, vegetables, nuts and grains to their diets, to reduce their intake of fats, refined starches, sugar and salt, and to take more exercise.

Environmental issues are also set to be a key focus: encouraging the consumption of local, seasonal food, and fish that has been sustainably sourced, while pushing for food to be kept fresh for as long as possible to prevent waste.