Food Transition – Cause of Pandemic Obesity

We often hear our parents or grandparents talk about how the food back in the old days was healthier. Whether its fruits, vegetables, meat or dairy products, everything was fresh and full of energy. Unfortunately, food nutrition has changed immensely and this drastic change has affected human health.

Years ago, discussing ‘pandemic obesity’ was considered only a myth or a thought of hearsay. However, by the early 1990s, diets and activity patterns began to change rapidly because people shifted their reliance from homemade/ natural eatables to more on processed food, edible oils, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

The dietary quality is worsening day by day, reduction in physical activities and sedentary is also has been observed in people, which is considered to be the greatest cause of an increase in body weight and impeding pandemic obesity.

According to Body Mass Index (BMI), worldwide, the body mass of an average adult has been increased from 28.8% to 36.9% in men and from 29.8 to 38% in women between 1980 and 2013.

These variations were initially observed in the lower and middle class but were visibly recognized when such diseases e.g diabetes, hypertension, and obesity started to influence the global growth rate. Obesity causes energy imbalance, heart diseases, stroke, high blood pressure, and many other formidable diseases.

One of the major factors of this pandemic disease is the excessive use of technology which has immensely reduced energy expenditure at work in the more labor-intensive occupation, such as farming and mining. Changes in transportation and home production also relate to reduced physical activity.

It is of grave importance to find ways to increase physical activity across all age groups. Governments should take immediate action on the food industry to stop the production of unhealthy products. Policy efforts should, also, focus on reducing ‘population intake’ by improving the healthiness of food systems and the environment to halt the rise of obesity.