How the US Government Subsidizes Obesity

By Jomo Kwame SundaramKUALA LUMPUR , Dec 29 2016 (IPS)Until the turn of the century, the United States of America (US) was the country with the highest share of overweight and obese people. Soon after the former president of Coca-Cola Mexico became the new president of his country, Mexico overtook the US. In late 2014, the McKinsey Global Institute announced that 2.1 billion of the 7.3 billion people in the world were overweight or obese. This represented a fifty per cent increase over the previous WHO estimate of 1.4 billion less than a decade earlier. The Institute also estimated that about 2.8 percent of world income is spent dealing with the consequences of associated ill health.While almost 800 million people are estimated to be ‘chronically hungry’, higher real incomes for many as well as globalized lifestyles, including food consumption, have changed micronutrient deficiencies and increased diet-related non-communicable diseases, many associated with overweight and obesity. With the United Nations General Assembly calling for a global Decade of Action against malnutrition from 2016, there is greater interest in the role of food systems in contributing to various dimensions of malnutrition.A recent study found that those who most consume government subsidized foods had a 37 percent greater risk of being obese. They were significantly more likely to have belly fat, abnormal cholesterol and high blood sugar. While it could not prove cause and effect, this strong assoc...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Editors' Choice Featured Food & Agriculture Headlines Health Human Rights TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news