The mind wants vegetables, but the belly junk food

Study: Sweetened drinks and junk food continue to be popular

02/19/2015

More fruits and vegetables are eaten worldwide than it was twenty years ago. This is the result of a study by an international team of scientists led by Fumiaki Imamura of the University of Cambridge, who in „The Lancet Global Health“ has been published. However, according to the researchers, this positive nutrition trend is reversed by increased consumption of sugary drinks and processed meat. The unhealthiest diet of people in the US, Canada and Western Europe.

Lots of junk food and less healthy fruits and vegetables
As part of their study, the researchers analyzed eating habits in almost 190 countries. They evaluated more than 320 nutrition surveys from the period 1990-2010. Her main interest was how much fruit, vegetables and fish people consume, and how often they prefer unhealthier foods such as salt, meat products and sugary drinks to healthy foods. While it appears that respondents eat more healthy foods such as whole grains and fish, there is a much greater increase in the quantities of junk foods that are consumed on a regular basis. Another result of the study: Women eat healthier than men and older people than young adults.

Regarding the regional differences in dietary habits, researchers found that people in Mongolia, Latin America and the Caribbean are healthier. In contrast, fast food is eaten in Bosnia, Armenia and the Dominican Republic. In some African and Asian countries, there has been no improvement in dietary habits over the past twenty years.

„There is still a long way to go, "quotes the news agency „dpa“ one of the authors of the study, Dariush Mozaffarian from Tufts University. „Westerners "were among the biggest consumers of junk food, but China and India caught up, which is why the governments of these countries would have to intervene, said Mozaffarian. „We can not leave that alone. "

Childhood obesity is increasing worldwide
Researchers warn against obesity in children in the face of unhealthy eating habits. In the past 30 years, the number of overweight or obese children has increased dramatically. This also applies to countries in which part of the children are still affected by malnutrition. This was the result of an international research team in a series of studies published in the renowned specialist journal „The Lancet“ were published.

According to scientists from Boyd Swinburn of the University of Auckland, US children now weigh on average five kilos more than their peers 30 years ago, and eat 200 kilocalories a day more. According to the researchers, this benefits the food industry in particular. „Big kids are an investment for future sales“, quotes the news agency „dpa“ Co-author Tim Lobstein of World Obesity Federation in London.

Obesity in children is a worldwide problem. Even in low- to middle-income countries such as India, Mexico and South Africa, where some children are still affected by malnutrition and underdevelopment, the number of obese children is rising rapidly. This resulted in an analysis of several study results published between 1972 and 2012. For example, the number of overweight and obese children in Brazil rose from about seven percent in the early 1970s to more than 25 percent in 2010.

Obesity and childhood obesity can severely damage your health
People who have a body mass index (BMI) - weight in kilograms by height in meters squared - from 25 are considered to be overweight. Obesity starts at a BMI of 30. If children already have obesity or obesity, it will be particularly harmful to their health. Because joints, bones, muscles and organs are exposed to a high health risk early. Some damages are irreversible. In addition, obese children often suffer from mental illnesses such as behavioral disorders, emotional disorders, school problems, ADHD, depression and learning disabilities. And there are more common asthma, allergies, headaches and ear infections than their normal-weight peers. To this conclusion, researchers around Neal Halfton, Kandyce Larson and Wendy Slusser, whose study in December 2012 in the online edition of „Academic Pediatrics“ has been published.

Researchers are calling for improved dietary guidelines for children against obesity
The researchers are calling in „The Lancet“ new dietary guidelines that set standards for nutritional information, availability and price of food. Previous marketing practices would have to change, because children needed food security, the researchers said. The consumption of healthy food should not be jeopardized by advertising unhealthy, competing products. The governments of the countries are required to be more involved in the fight against obesity.

In Germany, every second adult is overweight
In Germany, the number of overweight and obese is steadily rising. According to the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden now every second adult is overweight. While 48 percent of Germans still carried too many kilos in 1999, in 2013 they were already 52 percent - and rising. The so-called KiGGs study by the Robert Koch Institute, which investigates the health situation of children and adolescents in Germany, came to the conclusion on the basis of data from 2003 to 2006, that during this period 15 percent of seven to ten year olds and even 17 percent of 14- to 17-year-olds were overweight. As obese were 6.4 percent and 8.5 percent in the respective age group.

In November last year, the German Obesity Society (DAG) wrote an open letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) and underestimated the problem „obesity“ warned. The obesity epidemic with voluntary measures under control, had failed. (Ag)