It seems a paradox, but sadly it’s the truth: in developing countries, where still one person out of eight doesn’t have enough food for its basic needings, in the last 25 years the rate of obesity and overweught people has grown exponentially.
If in 1908 there were 250million of overweight people, in 2008 this number reached nearly 1 billion. Numbers published recently by the Overseas Development Institute. Numbers easily to explain: where there is no food’s culture, where there is no information and where there is no prevention, the rate of obesity grows.
Also in the developed countries the number of overweight and obese people has grown in the past years: with an increase of 200 million it has reached the total of 550 million. But the most alarming situation regards developing countries says Steve Wigging, researcher at ODI «the growth rate in those countries it’s alarming. If the current trend continues in the next years there will be an increase in patologies such as cancer, diabetes and stroke».
The report highlights also how the governments are doing very little against this phenomenon, probably because they don’t care about it, but also for pressions by some lobbies: at first those by food companies. «Governments shouldn’t be scared about those issues – continues Wiggs – Rather they should contribute promoting healty diets, thinking about some limitations, similar to those regarding smoking in public areas, on the food that put at risk people’s health». The countries don’t understand the importance of this phenomenon. Do not teach to the young generation what and how to eat, means not having a correct vision of the problem. A couple of years ago, while I was leaving in New York City, there were panels with lots of informations on the quantity of sugars and fat present in the drinks of the fast food or the supermarket; honestly I don’t know may have some effects but for sure it could be a first step in this direction.
Looking at the numbers published by ODI the countries with the worst record are China and Mexico where, since 1980, the rate of obesity has doubled. South African rate has grown of one third surpassing United Kingdom. This growth is related also with the growth of consumption of sugar, that has grew up of nearly one fifth per person from 1969 till 2009. Less than one third of the population consumes less than the suggested maximum average of daily sugar, 50 grams, and 69 countries have a sugar consumption per person that is the double of this figure. Also the fat consumption is growing, especially in the South East of Asia and in Southern part of the African continent.
There’s someone who has proposed to put some limitation on the selling of fat and hyper-sugered food, more or less in the same way done with tobacco and cigarettes; because also obesity, as tobacco, kills.
It seems a paradox, but sadly it’s the truth: in developing countries, where still one person out of eight doesn’t have enough food for its basic needings, in the last 25 years the rate of obesity and overweught people has grown exponentially.
