More People Now Die from Obesity than Malnutrition

[웃 910]

World now has 'more people dying from obesity than malnutrition'

More people in the world are now dying from obesity than malnutrition, anti-poverty campaigners say.

More people now die from obesity than malnutrition (Picture: Reuters) There were 1.5billion dangerously overweight people worldwide last year, while 925million were underfed, according to the Red Cross.

The figures were denounced as a ‘shocking’ demonstration that the world produces enough food but people still go hungry.

The Red Cross called it a ‘double-edged’ scandal that fewer people died of starvation than were being killed by ‘excess nutrition’.

The organisation’s Bekele Geleta said: ‘If the free interplay of market forces has produced an outcome where 15 per cent of humanity are hungry while 20 per cent are overweight, something has gone wrong somewhere.’

The problem is highlighted in the organisation’s annual World Disasters Report, which says the world is facing a growing food crisis.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said hunger existed not because there was a lack of food globally but because of poor distribution, wastage and rising prices that made food unaffordable.

Food prices have spiked globally this year because of speculative commodity trading and climate change, it added. Meredith Alexander, head of the HungerFree campaign at ActionAid, said: ‘We have always known that hunger is a man-made tragedy, not a result of natural scarcity.

‘At a time when almost 1billion people go to bed hungry every night, the Red Cross’s latest figures show that another 1.5billion are obese.’

One in 11 deaths in Britain is now linked to obesity, which causes heart problems and diabetes.

Recent figures suggest nearly half of men and nearly as many women will be obese in Britain by 2030.

Alex Cobham, head of policy at Christian Aid, said: ‘A rise in the numbers both of obese people and people in hunger on the face of it seems counter-intuitive.

‘But in fact these two trends can be traced back to the same phenomenon – the common factor is inequality.’

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/876364-world-now-has-more-people-dying-from-obesity-than-malnutrition#ixzz2C4wFr7OZ

[TBoneTX 46,122]

Good for everyone to know, but people don't die of obesity itself. They die from conditions brought on or exacerbated by the obesity -- acute coronary events, diabetes, etc. This point is buried within the article.

Edited November 13, 2012 by TBoneTX

[TBoneTX 46,122]

*** Thread moved from P&R to Off Topic -- subject is related to health and comparative economics rather than to politics or religion. ***

[Niels Bohr 72]

[SMR 368]

If you look at the developed world, obesity is not correlated, and in fact negatively correlated, with wealth. Obesity is not being caused by rich people hogging all of the food any more than malnutrition is being caused by a scarcity of food. In America, it is the poor that are most likely to be overweight. Obesity stems from poor food choices, lack of exercise, and a reliance on processed foods. Not only is crappy processed food more convenient to prepare, it is also cheaper. Eating a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, and whole grains is less convenient and more expensive than eating a diet of pre-manufactured meals and snacks.

I don't see malnutrition and obesity as being on opposite sides of the scale. Both stem from poverty and a lack of access (or selection in the case of obesity) to good nutrition choices.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Good for everyone to know, but people don't die of obesity itself. They die from conditions brought on or exacerbated by the obesity -- acute coronary events, diabetes, etc. This point is buried within the article.

A point also true of malnutrition -- considerable numbers die from collateral complications (such as higher susceptibility to very ordinary diseases, which then actually take them), more than actually starve to death.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

If you look at the developed world, obesity is not correlated, and in fact negatively correlated, with wealth. Obesity is not being caused by rich people hogging all of the food any more than malnutrition is being caused by a scarcity of food. In America, it is the poor that are most likely to be overweight. Obesity stems from poor food choices, lack of exercise, and a reliance on processed foods. Not only is crappy processed food more convenient to prepare, it is also cheaper.

Not when you compare cost-for-quantity (even with GENERICS).

Eating a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products, and whole grains is less convenient and more expensive (see above) than eating a diet of pre-manufactured meals and snacks.

I don't see malnutrition and obesity as being on opposite sides of the scale. Both stem from poverty and a lack of access (or selection in the case of obesity) to good nutrition choices.

Even holds true of frozen veggies -- which are pricier for quantity than fresh, but much less than the processed rubbish.

[Julie89 0]

Something is definitely wrong with this world! People eating McDonald's like hell while others can't even reach the minimum required nutrients.