Question

Think about your cultural heritage and the influence on your eating habits, then search for global obesity trends. Using your experiences and the information you found, share your thoughts about the challenges you face making healthy dietary choices.

Answer 1

How do we measure if one is obese? The World Health Organisation uses the BMI(Body Mass Index) scale to categorise using the weight and height of the said person. The 4 categories are Underweight, Normal, Overweight and Obese.

Now, if you look at the global obesity trend, You'll find a much higher prevalence of obesity in richer, more developed countries such as the UK, USA, etc while the significance of obesity is much lower in middle income and poor countries like Africa, South Asia.

The increase in the obesity trends can be explained by the emerging sedentary lifestyle with little or no physical activity. Earlier when we look at the cultural heritage of a target population and compare their dietary styles, they mostly consumed food readily available to them, locally produced, leading a sustainable living and agriculture. The diet of the people suited their body type and climate. But now, with emerging Migration, globalisation, there is a shift in the eating habits of people.

In todays World, food consumed in directly proportional to the type of restaurants available in the vicinity, which would require minimum to absolutely no physical exertion. If a certain kind of fruit or vegetable or meat product isn't available locally, They are imported, stored for months and consumed. There is a shift in the paradigm of eating habits which is completely independent of the cultural heritage of the given region.

This shift in lifestyle and eating habits is leading to a rise in the Non communicable disease. Earlier, infectious and communicable disease resulted in Mortality, but now the change in lifestyle has resulted in deaths due to non communicable diseases such a coronary heart disease, diabetes etc.

Even my dietary habits are greatly influenced by my work culture. We work a lot, but its mostly our brains and eyes doing the work, with no physical activity. Even to cover a short distance, we Uber. We Uber because its available. Because its inexpensive. Because we work hard enough to afford it. Our food contains a lot of calories but unfortunately not nearly enough micro nutrients. and no way of exhausting it either.