Global and National Trends

 
Click here to watch the alarming escalation of obesity in the United States since 1985

Obesity is now the second leading cause of preventable death, behind tobacco.[1] Just thirty years ago, obesity was a relatively rare condition.  Now, nearly one out of every three adults in the United States is obese.[2] How did this happen?

A lower level of physical activity contributes to the problem, but physical activity cannot overcome the increasing number of calories we ingest. Adults consume approximately 300 more calories per day than they did in 1985.[3] Ailments like fatty liver disease, breast cancer, infertility and kidney stones are all linked to our poor diets, now saturated with fat, salt and sugars from highly processed food products. Children being born now could be the first generation in modern times to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Obesity and associated diet-related diseases are to blame.[4]

So where are we getting all these calories?  Half of all food dollars are spent outside the home, and – as the economy worsens – an increasing proportion is spent at the cheapest restaurants.[5] Fast food is rapidly becoming the American meal.  To increase profits, these corporations increase portions of the cheapest calories you can produce, filled with fat, high fructose corn syrup and salt.  A hamburger patty at McDonald’s is now five times as large as it was when McDonald’s first opened, and we are eating more of them than ever.[6][7]

The epidemic of obesity and diet-related disease is spreading beyond the United States, beyond even the industrialized West.  The worldwide prevalence of type 2 diabetes, for instance, is projected to double by 2025.[8] As transnational food corporations like McDonald's, Burger King and Yum! Brands expand their global reach, such trends will continue to play out worldwide, even in lower-income countries that many still associate with hunger and malnutrition.

1. JD. Wright, et al., “Trends in Intake of Energy and Macronutrients—United States, 1971-2000,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 291:10 (2004), http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi//full/291/10/1193.

2. National Center for Health Statistics, “Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity among Adults: United States, 2003-2004,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/overweight/overwght_adult_03.htm (accessed August 30, 2008).

3. J. Putman et al., “U.S. per Capita Food Supply Trends: More Calories, Refined Carbohydrates, and Fats,” Food Review, 25:3 (2002): 1-14.

4. S. Jay  Olshansky, et al., “A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21st Century,” The New England Journal of Medicine, 352:11 (March 2005): 1138-1145, http://content.nejm.org/cgi//short/352/11/1138 (accessed August 30, 2008).

5. Industry News, “For More Americans, Eating In Is Out,” Progressive Grocer, http://www.progressivegrocer.com/progressivegrocer/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003256080 (accessed December 13, 2007).

6. SJ. Nielsen, et al., “Patterns and Trends in Food Portion Sizes, 1977-1998,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 289 (January 2003): 450-453.

7. Lisa Young and Marion Nestle, "Portion Size and Obesity: Responses of Fast Food Companies," Journal of Public Health Policy, 28:2 (2007): 238-248.

8. Paul Zimmet et al., “Global and societal implications of the diabetes epidemic,” Nature, 414 (2001):782-787, http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v414/n6865/pdf/414782a.pdf (accessed February 5, 2009).

Photo: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm