The Rapid Emergence of Obesity in Developing Countries
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The last century witnessed a remarkable change in patterns of disease. The control of infectious disease, together with changing life styles, led to longer life expectancies and the emergence of chronic disease as a primary cause of death. This change from infectious to chronic disease, first described by Omran [1], is known as the epidemiologic transition. However, as a result of the occurrence of HIV and related drug-resistant infections, some countries have witnessed a reversal in the expected trends [2]. In spite of HIV and related rises in the prevalences of infectious disease, obesity and chronic disease prevalences are still emerging at an accelerated rate in many developing countries [3–5]. In fact, prevalences of overweight/obesity exceed that of undernutrition in a majority of 37 developing countries studied in both urban and rural areas [6]. Overweight and obesity are emerging in developing countries as a result of rapidly changing lifestyle patterns, such as those of diet and physical activity, leading to an accelerated increase in overweight, obesity, and related chronic diseases. A transition in diet and physical activity patterns, leading to an energy-dense diet and a sedentary lifestyle, is known as the nutrition transition [7]. The nutrition transition as a global phenomenon has been documented to include the industrialized nations of Europe and North America as well as lower- and middle-income countries of Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East.
CHAP
Nutrition and Health in Developing Countries
Doak, Colleen M.
Popkin, Barry M.
2008
617-638
10.1007/978-1-59745-464-3_21
1630