Mother's diet to stunt 'globesity'
could stop the onset of obesity in later life, finds a study
released last week by the UN-backed Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO). With an estimated 115 million people obese in
developing countries, solutions to the problem are pressing.
The study pulls together a growing body of empirical evidence that suggests that hunger during pregnancy 'programmes' foetal tissues to get the most out of the food energy available, a system that leads to overnourishment in adult life when coupled with greater food availability and a more sedentary lifestyle.
"Hunger today and more food availability tomorrow will mean that many [in developing countries] will shift from hunger to obesity and become vulnerable to one of the related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and coronary heart disease," says the FAO.
It added that diets today, and in the foreseeable future, do not comply with dietary recommendations made by a consultation of health experts convened by FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) last year. The FAO study claims that 36 per cent of all countries in the world already have populations consuming above the recommended maximum level of 300 milligrams per person a day of cholesterol, more than twice the rate of the early 1960s.
Likewise, 34 per cent of all countries exceed the 30 per cent threshold of fat in the diet, compared to 18 per cent 40 years ago. FAO's outlook to 2030 suggests that these indicators will continue to deteriorate as more than 40 per cent of the additional calories consumed in the future will come from fats.
Because of falling real prices for food, rising incomes and rapidly increasing urbanization, diets in many developing countries are approaching energy and protein intake levels that have for long been limited to consumers in developed countries, notes the study.
These ongoing changes in nutrition mean that a growing number of developing countries face the 'double burden' of under- and over-nutrition and their associated economic and healthcare costs. According to FAO's outlook to 2030, this double burden can be expected to increase rapidly.
Obesity is one of the main causes of non-communicable diseases. The economic and healthcare costs of NCDs are already high in many developed countries. In the US alone that cost has risen to more than $120 billion annually.
According to the FAO, the economic problems associated with nutrition transition will be felt more strongly in developing countries. In developed countries, obesity, diabetes and other NCDs account for a heavy slice of healthcare costs. While people in more advanced countries may be able to cope with the increased costs, the story is very different in developing countries where many people will not be able to pay for medical treatment. Left untreated, people in developing countries will suffer from obesity and NCDs tomorrow as they suffer from hunger today, writes the FAO.
"All efforts that help fight hunger today and improve the nutritional situation of women during their reproductive age, have the potential to yield an extra dividend tomorrow," says the Rome-based organisation.
The World Health Organization estimates that in 1995 there were 200 million obese adults worldwide and another 18 million under-five children classified as overweight. In 2000, this number lept up to over 300 million, with over 115 million people suffering from obesity-related problems in the developing countries.
