Global Malnutrition Partly Due To Overeating
Development has brought about a new global scourge - widespread malnourishment among overweight individuals eating calorie-rich, nutrient-poor diets, experts say.
In fact, the world's population of 1.2 billion overfed and undernourished individuals now equals those starving from a lack of healthy food. "The world is in the midst of a nutrition crisis," conclude Gary Gardner and Brian Haliweil, co-authors of the "State of the World 2000" report, published by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, DC-based independent research group. They say the impact of the global 'nutrition crisis' "is large, but also largely unrecognized."
...Increasing affluence has triggered a global boom in unhealthy overeating. "Consumption of fat and sugar has surged far beyond earlier levels as people eat more livestock products and as oil and sugar are added to foods of all kinds," according to Gardner and Haliweil. In fact, fatty and sugary foods have in large part replaced fruits, vegetables and other nutrient-rich foods in the diets of millions, so much so that "one-fifth of the 'vegetables' Americans eat are french fries and potato chips," according to the report.
The result? High levels of obesity, surging cholesterol levels, and deficiencies in important vitamins and minerals that leave overweight individuals prone to chronic disease.
Foxnews.com, January 20, 2000
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