Globesity

Globalisation- The worldwide movement toward economic, financial, trade, and communications integration.
Obesity- An abnormal accumulation of body fat, 20% or more over an individual’s ideal body weight.
Globesity can be considered as obesity becoming a global epidemic as well as globalisation increasing the world obesity. For the past 20 years, the level of obesity has tripled in number and unfortunately, the figures are still increasing rapidly. Obesity is a huge issue as it can result in diabetes, heart disease and several cancers. Developing countries are being exposed to cheap, easily accessible, over-processed foods due to globalization of large corporations. ¾ of the world’s economic growth is now coming from countries we previously thought of as poor such as India, China and Brazil. In 1950, 700 million people were malnourished and 100 million people (mainly in rich countries) were obese. In 2010, 800 million people were malnourished and the number of obese people grew largely to 500 million people, displaying that this is a very rapid and serious problem.
The biggest killer Mexico is facing today is Diabetes, over the past 30 years Mexico has gone from having a great amount of their population malnourished to dealing with a population of which over 60% are growing overweight or obese. Mexicans are getting fatter faster than anyone else in the world due to their significant shift in diet. Coca Cola has become very big in Mexico and many Mexicans are including coca cola into breakfast, lunch and dinner. The high accessibility of Coca-Cola in Mexico and the even higher demand for it is a major factor to their rapidly increasing obese population. Children are mostly at risk by their diet and are developing diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. Some babies are being fed coca cola in their bottles rather than milk formulas, which is extremely bad as they’re not getting the right nutrients which are crucial for their development and the introduction of coca cola at such a young age will permanently disrupt their metabolism. What used to be an occasional sweet for children has become everyday food for children. Many people have to undergo surgery to reduce their fat and weight because of this, a strategy being used in Mexico to improve the health status of the people is nutritionists visiting families and helping them with their food choices.
In China the rapid transformation of the economy has been mirrored by the extreme differences to the consumption of food. Before the 1950s the only fat that the world was accessible to was butter fat, nowadays we have created oils cheaply. Chinese previously consumed 20 calories of oil a day, now they consume 400 calories a day of vegetable oil. The diabetes rate of teenagers in China today is higher than of that in the US because of the massive shift in diet. It is suggested that diets should be made up of whole foods, in whole foods sugar and fat are separate so that they’re appreciated alone. More than 380 million people in china are now overweight or obese. China is effectively trying to help this problem by having programs known as ‘The Biggest Loser’ which is a living weight loss program in Shanghai.
Over 50% of adults are now obese in Brazil. Brazil is imitating what has happened in wealthier countries with the change towards their food system. Most of the calories people are consuming are coming from food products rather than food directly; previously food products (chocolates, biscuits, etc.) were compliments of whole foods whereas now, it is the opposite. Nestle has become a leading brand of ‘junk food’ in Brazil. We are exporting our processed food industry into countries that have never seen it before, these foods are extremely high in calories with a very low nutritional value. On the contrary one of Brazil’s best athletes helps run institutes to help disadvantage children. The programs have sport classes and nutritionists for children who need special assistance to be able to give them as much information as possible, preventing them from becoming overweight. Brazil also offers a national school lunch program which offers 47 million nutrient dense meals every day.
In the last 15 years obesity has emerged into India, with only the rich being able to afford treatment for diabetes, a disproportion of Indians have diabetes without knowing it. Heart disease and type two diabetes have become the number one cause of death as India is moving out of poverty. Indians are now mainly eating fast foods and out rather than at home. Many Indians are unfamiliar of diabetes and its risks because of it only recently affecting India, the epidemic threatens to overwhelm the national health budget and the cost of treatment can individually bankrupt average families. Babies in India are already being programmed for heart disease and diabetes whilst they’re in the womb because of the mother’s diets. If the mothers have a poor diet their children will be threatened by diabetes and will be passed down to further generations.
Based on the documentary we can see that Globesity is a very serious problem the world is facing due to its rapidness and severity. It is expected by 2030 for 1 billion people in the world to be obese, 10 times the obese population in 1950. This rapid shift in diet is causing a much larger rate of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers in developing countries. Developing countries are being targeted by big corporations such as Coca Cola and Nestle, who are selling over-processed foods which are being very popular due to their unfamiliarity of such foods and ignorance of their capabilities. Adults in poorer countries grew up with little food and therefore want to provide for their children so that they don’t have to go through the same thing.