Читать книгу The Atlas of Food - Erik Millstone - Страница 26

Over-Nutrition

PEOPLE IN INDUSTRIALIZED countries tend to lead sedentary lifestyles and eat more than they need. But the incidence of obesity is increasing worldwide. When countries industrialize, eating habits change and people tend to supplement their traditional diets, high in fruits, vegetables and cereals, with meat and dairy products. Obesity can lead to diabetes, and this is rapidly becoming a worldwide epidemic. Diabetes is most common in industrialized countries, but recent reports suggest that it is increasing most rapidly in Asia and the Caribbean. Both diabetes and obesity increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Until the 1980s CHD was common in industrialized countries, but improvements in medical treatment have led to falling rates in North America, Western Europe and Australia. In Japan, and in countries where people have maintained their traditional, plant-based diets, rates of CHD are low, while in Russia and Eastern Europe, rates are continuing to rise. In general, premature deaths from CHD are twice as common in men as in women, but in some regions this difference is narrowing. Indeed, diets worldwide are tending to converge, with the growth of fast-food outlets and global trade, and in many developing countries the incidence of heart disease is increasing as a consequence.

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