Obesity also a threat in developing countries
Sadly, we are getting accustomed to see emaciated people in poor countries and extremely fat people in rich countries. However, as countries develop this is getting far form reality as both starvation and obesity are closely linked with poverty, and as such they are both symptoms of malnutrition.
The negative effects of unhealthy processed fat and sugar-rich diets in combination with low physical activity began to be recognized in the early 1990s, but they did not become clearly acknowledged until diabetes, hypertension, and obesity began to dominate the world.
As well as in countries with high income levels, rates of obesity and overweight are widely documented in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In these countries, higher incomes imply access to unhealthy fattening food, and consequently, higher prevalences of obesity. Healthy food is usually either not available or not affordable. While in the developed world, obesity is already considered a pandemic, this is also now true for the developing countries. Obesity is affecting both rich and poor countries and causing more deaths than undernourishment, according to the World Economic Forum, which is actually bankrupting economies and short-changing future generations in a major way.
Governments from the richest countries have stated to implement policies to fight the pandemic, with an array of large-scale programmatic and policy measures. However, few developing countries are engaged in serious efforts to prevent the serious dietary challenges being faced.
Sadly, we are getting accustomed to see emaciated people in poor countries and extremely fat people in rich countries. However, as countries develop this is getting far form reality as both starvation and obesity are closely linked with poverty, and as such they are both symptoms of malnutrition.
The negative effects of unhealthy processed fat and sugar-rich diets in combination with low physical activity began to be recognized in the early 1990s, but they did not become clearly acknowledged until diabetes, hypertension, and obesity began to dominate the world.
As well as in countries with high income levels, rates of obesity and overweight are widely documented in the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In these countries, higher incomes imply access to unhealthy fattening food, and consequently, higher prevalences of obesity. Healthy food is usually either not available or not affordable. While in the developed world, obesity is already considered a pandemic, this is also now true for the developing countries. Obesity is affecting both rich and poor countries and causing more deaths than undernourishment, according to the World Economic Forum, which is actually bankrupting economies and short-changing future generations in a major way.
Governments from the richest countries have stated to implement policies to fight the pandemic, with an array of large-scale programmatic and policy measures. However, few developing countries are engaged in serious efforts to prevent the serious dietary challenges being faced.
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