Weight Gain-It has become a Global Problem

Globalization and modernity has great influence on weight gain and obesity. Natural physical activities is being replaced with gym facilities.

For a long time issues to do with weight has been a concern of the ladies with men taking the back seat. This is no more in the today’s society weight is everyone concern young and old. The kind of life we live today has great effects on our weight it is either we are adding or losing, the great concern is in the gaining because this is where health complication arises. Looking at the new styles of life brought about by modernity we can point out positive and negative development and for sure we are today much cleverer than we were several decades ago have developed immensely in technology. Modernization has for sure lifted millions of people out of poverty, reducing hunger and infectious disease and in turn improving quality of life. While on the other hand the same social and economic shifts that have increased people’s wealth have also increased their waistlines and are driving the obesity epidemic in several countries globally. Obesity is a public health problem that has been for a long time been associated with the western countries but this has over the decades changed and it is now a global problem affecting both poor and wealthy nations almost equally. It is believed that about 500 million adults are obese and 1.5 billion are overweight. These statistics are indeed worrying and it is further complicated with the fact that many poor countries are not only struggling with the burden of obesity but also that of underweight because of malnutrition. The health care professionals have raised their concern on the emerging trend of globalization/modernity is driving overweight problem as a matter of fact overweight has overtaken underweight globally thanks to the many fast food restaurants and supermarkets selling junks. This has completely changed the traditional menu in most households thereby distorting our nutrition and healthy living.

Weight Gain-Modernization Promotes Obesity

At an individual level, obesity results from energy imbalance too many calories in, too few calories burned. But the food and physical activity choices that individuals make are shaped by the world in which they live:

• The food environment: what type of food is available, how much it costs and how it is marketed influences what people eat.
• The built environment: buildings, neighborhoods, transportation systems, and other man-made elements of the landscape influences how active people are.
• New technologies: cars, computers, televisions, labor-saving devices, and many more change what people do for work, transportation, and leisure.

There are three broad global forces which are the major drivers of these changes they include:

• Free trade
• Economic growth
• Urbanization

These macro-level changes are for sure driving the global obesity epidemic and especially in low and middle-income countries. Let us now take a moment and discus them for better understanding.

Weight Gain-Global Free Trade

Globalization has effectively brought with it trade liberalization which has open the market for food market and a varieties of food products which are often high in calories. It has also removed barriers to foreign investment in food distribution and allows multinational food companies and fast-food chains to expand their businesses into new countries thereby introducing high risk and unhealthy feeding habits. The question we need to answer is how does this contribute to weight gain and obesity? We are in agreement that the traditional foods were much nutritious than the processed foods which are for one not fresh and are very rich in calories. These foods are affordable and readily available 24/7 creating laxity in most families consuming homemade food. People have become so busy even to eat at home stuffing their fridges with all sorts of unhealthy food stuff and thanks to this behavior we are getting a lot of calories in our bodies which we cannot burn and so the cycle of obesity continues.

Weight Gain-Income, Socioeconomic Status and Weight

Globalization has open various opportunities and nations of the world are getting wealthier each passing day and knowing that wealth is closely associated with obesity as scale of income goes up so is obesity. Take for example farm workers who were getting minimal income begins to have enough money to jump into the modern habits associated with obesity like watching television, buying processed foods at supermarkets, and eating more food away from home but without proper healthcare and knowledge about healthy foods and physical activity that would help them keeps their weight down, obesity sinks in. However the direct opposite is that when countries graduate to middle and then to high income bracket people will definitely have better access to health care and education which translate into reducing the rate of obesity and unnecessary weight gain.

Weight Gain-Urbanization, Diet and Activity

Today almost more than half of the world’s population lives in cities, compared with just some 10 percent in 1900. This then means that life style has changed drastically to these city dwellers. They are physically under the greater influence of new technology. They are no longer illiterate and are able to access quality health care from the many health facilities available in the cities which can help reduce obesity. Nonetheless in many low and middle income countries, new urban areas develop so quickly that the health care and education infrastructure is never adequate due to the enormous influx of rural urban migration. Besides feeding habits adequate physical activities in urban setups may be lucking due to the fear of insecurity associated with urban neighborhoods. The traditional villages are believed to be much safer and so movement of people is not very much restricted to use of motor vehicles. People can freely walk or do their physical activities outdoors without the burden of insecurity on their shoulders as opposed to the urban centers.

Weight Gain-Speeding up the Nutrition Transition

Economic growth and urbanization lead to predictable shifts in diet, called nutrition transitions. In hunter-gatherer societies, people forage for food. Next they shift to rudimentary agriculture, often enduring famine. As wealth and technology grow and famine recedes, calorie intake rises, leading to overeating and obesity. Globalization has helped move many countries from famine to food sufficiency. But in many low- and middle-income countries, globalization has also accelerated the shift from food sufficiency to Western-style feast—and in turn, to obesity and obesity-related diseases. The effects of globalization as a factor in weight gain and obesity is very interesting and needs to be further interrogated with experience experts who have had similar dealings in the past. Dr. Dalal Akoury has been helping people suffering from obesity globally using very natural means. She is also the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a facility in which exclusive NER Recovery Treatment is administered to other physicians and health care professionals through training, clinical apprenticeships, webinars and seminars. Qualified professional or anybody with problems with weight gain or obesity can be a part of this truly successful and fast addiction recovery treatment.

Weight Gain-It has become a Global Problem