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Review
. 2015 Sep;15(9):64.
doi: 10.1007/s11892-015-0631-4.

Nutrition Transition and the Global Diabetes Epidemic

Barry M Popkin  1
Affiliations
Review

Nutrition Transition and the Global Diabetes Epidemic

Barry M Popkin. Curr Diab Rep. 2015 Sep.

Abstract

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face a rapid change in the nutrition transition toward increases in noncommunicable diseases. Underlying this transition are shifts in the agricultural system and the subsequent growth of the modern retail and food service sectors across all regions and countries, a change in technology affecting physical activity and inactivity, mass media access, urbanization, and penetration of modern food systems into all societies. The resulting major shifts in diet are toward increased refined carbohydrates, added sweeteners, edible oils, and animal-source foods and reduced legumes, other vegetables, and fruits. Most countries are seeing increases in body mass index (BMI), overweight, and waist circumference (WC), and an increased WC-BMI ratio appears to be emerging in many regions. The implications of these rapidly changing diets and body compositions include the prevalence and severity of diabetes in LMICs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Compliance with Ethics Guidelines

Conflict of Interest

Barry M. Popkin declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
World Health Organization Diabetes Trends
Figure 2
Figure 2
Predicted mean WC (cm) for BMI=25 kg/m2 in Year 2 compared to Year 1 for women and men aged 40–49 years in the US (by race/ethnicity), England, Mexico, and China Source: Data are derived from: China: The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS, 1993 and 2011): England: The National Heights and Weight Survey, 1992–93 and 2008–9.United States: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III:1988–94 and the combined NHANES 2007–8 plus 2009–10). Mexico: The Mexican Nutrition Survey 1999 (MSN 1999) and the Mexican National Health and Nutrition Survey 2012 (NHNS 2012) Models include: age (categorized: 20–29, 30–39 40–49 years), BMI, BMI-squared, survey year, age*survey year, BMI*survey year, BMI-squared*survey year. For brevity, only results for age group 40–49 years shown in figure. Source: Albrecht et al, add reference once final
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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