IRIN: Future diets and the world’s expanding waistlines
The news service examines calculations from Oxfam and a new report from the Overseas Development Institute that both look at changing diets worldwide. “…Perhaps the most interesting figures are not from the richest or poorest countries, but those in between — emerging economies making the transition to middle- or higher-income status. … As people get richer, they want to eat more meat, fish and dairy products, more fried food, more sweets and cakes, washed down with fizzy drinks. … Combined with moving to the cities, having less time to cook and leading less active lives, the dietary shift has brought expanding waistlines and an epidemic of ill-health…” (Blunt, 1/15).