Global Changes in Nutrition Patterns
The negative effects of worsening dietary patterns and associated degenerative diseases are not just being felt in high-income countries.
Increasingly, as this article notes, lower- and middle-income countries are also seeing rapid increases in overweight and obese populations. Several possible reasons are mentioned, including:
-
Dietary shifts toward greater animal and hydrogenated fat intake, and lower fiber intake
-
Reduced energy expenditure through work and leisure
-
Decreasing food prices (e.g., beef)
-
Urbanization
-
The spread of the fast food and soft drink industries
Clearly, these changes present significant challenges to not only the health of the people directly affected, but also to the economies of the affected countries and the world as a whole as the rates of degenerative disease increase as a result.
