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- NEW YORK - Development
has brought about a new global scourge - widespread malnourishment among
overweight individuals eating calorie-rich, nutrient-poor diets, experts
say.
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- In fact, the world's population of 1.2 billion overfed
and undernourished individuals now equals those starving from a lack of
healthy food.
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- "The world is in the midst of a nutrition crisis,"
conclude Gary Gardner and Brian Haliweil, co-authors of the "State
of the World 2000" report, published by the Worldwatch Institute,
a Washington, DC-based independent research group. They say the impact
of the global 'nutrition crisis' "is large, but also largely unrecognized."
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- According to the report, hunger declined slightly, especially
in Asia and Latin America, over the past few decades. A recent UN report
estimates that 790 million people now experience hunger daily, compared
with 918 million in 1970.
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- However, at the same time, increasing affluence has triggered
a global boom in unhealthy overeating. "Consumption of fat and sugar
has surged far beyond earlier levels as people eat more livestock products
and as oil and sugar are added to foods of all kinds," according to
Gardner and Haliweil. In fact, fatty and sugary foods have in large part
replaced fruits, vegetables and other nutrient-rich foods in the diets
of millions, so much so that "one-fifth of the 'vegetables' Americans
eat are french fries and potato chips," according to the report.
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- The result? High levels of obesity, surging cholesterol
levels, and deficiencies in important vitamins and minerals that leave
overweight individuals prone to chronic disease.
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- The authors also point out that "the condition of
being overweight or obese is no longer found only in wealthy nations."
For example, the numbers of overweight people in the Chinese population
rose from 9 percent to 15 percent between 1989 and 1992, with similar increases
charted in Latin and South America and Europe.
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- Besides the starving and the poorly overfed, the Worldwatch
report points to "a third group of several billion people" at
risk from malnutrition. Described as the "'hidden hungry,' these people
appear to be adequately fed, but are nonetheless debilitated by a lack
of essential vitamins and minerals," according to the authors.
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- Food companies tend to make more money from processed,
high-calorie foods, and aggressive marketing campaigns capitalize on "the
natural human desire for fat and sugar," according to the two experts.
In America, trends toward 'supersizing' meals have led to an unrealistic
image of what consists of a 'normal' food serving, while deep-frying has
allowed citizens of less affluent nations to take in large quantities of
fat without upping their meat intake.
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- Gardner and Haliweil urge that governments work towards
reducing levels of starvation and overeating. "Eradicating hunger
requires elimination of its root cause, which is generally poverty,"
they say. They point out that hunger is no longer a problem for countries
such as South Korea and Taiwan, which have succeeded over the past few
decades in raising incomes levels across the whole of their respective
populations.
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- Education will also play a key role in eliminating both
hunger and overweight. For example, they note that nutrition education
in schools have proven to be effective methods of steering children toward
nutritious diets.
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- "In an age of unprecedented global prosperity, it
is ironic and wholly unnecessary that malnutrition should exist on such
a massive scale," write the two experts. "By providing access
to nutritionally sound food for all, governments can help shape a social
evolution that is truly worthy of the name development."
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