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Adoption of Western diet, lifestyles causes obesity: WHO

Adoption of Western diet, lifestyles causes obesity: WHO

Author:
Publication: The Hindustan Times, Lucknow
Date: January 17, 2001
 
The adoption of Western diets and lifestyles has contributed. to an increase in overweight children in developing countries, recent research has shown.

Introduction of typically western diets like junk food and following their lifestyles like feeding one's baby with formula milk instead of breastfeeding has esulted in developing countries like India inheriting health problems of developed countries, says a new study carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Nutritionists warn that the high number of malnourished children found in such countries should remain a priority.

The who study found that while, on an average, the global prevalence of overweight preschool children was 3.3 per cent some developing countries had much higher rates.

In countries such as Egypt, Chile: Armenia and Algeria, for example, the rate was well over 5 per cent in Uzbekistan, it was approaching 15 per cent.

The WHO investigation, published in the American journal of epidemiology, confirmed that in many countries, the mindless aping of western diets and lifestyles had resulted in a trend towards more overweight children.

"The problem is, when you introduce the diets of developed countries, you inherit the health problems of developed countries," Dr Mercedes De Onis, the lead author of the report said.

According to Dr De Onis, a factor in keeping children slimmer and healthier was breastfeeding. Mothers who breastfeed are more likely to have children who are better able to regulate their weight.

However, many mothers in developing countries have been persuaded to move to formula milk soon after birth, a largely Western concept, which means that subsequent attempts to breastfeed 'will fail.' overweight and obese children, if they carry the condition over in adulthood, are more prone to various illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes, Dr De Onis said.

In Western countries, child obesity is a major epidemic, and now is the time to do something about it in the developing world to stop it getting that bad.

In the US, almost one-in-three children are overweight even before they reach school age. According to researchers, environmental factors play a major impact on childhood obesity than genetics.

With satellite channels today beaming a plethora of images of the west to the developing countries, young children in these countries are increasingly conscious of what the eat. Girls as young as five are conscious, about their weight and think about dieting. Even young children are not immune to the pressure on females to be slim, they say.

Girls have more concerns than boys about being thin and they are also more vulnerable to chronic dieting and binge eating in later life," the researchers say.

In this context, they point out parents should persist in feeding their children healthy foods, which they might initially appear to dislike, and avoid encouraging them to take junk food.

Unfortunately, today what children in developing countries want to eat is at variance with what their parents want them to eat, thanks to the influence of the West.

Obesity in children usually results from consumption of diets that were too high in fat, and too low in fruit and vegetables, the researchers say.

Obesity leads to a range of health problems such as diabetes, kidney damage, poor vision and bad circulation.

Dr De Onis said she was hopeful that education programmes aimed at children could encourage healthier eating. (UNI)
 


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