A nutrition study conducted by Barry Popkin, of the Department of Nutrition and Economics at the University of North Carolina, has determined that the number of overweight or obese people in the world outnumber the starving, with approximately 800 million starving/near starving and 1.3 billion overweight people. Popkin has also followed the lives of more than 15,000 people in China for the past 17 years, noting that none of them were obese when his study started, but nearly 25% are now. Using this as a baseline for other countries, Popkin points a finger at a "considerable" drop in the consumption of cereals (grains) and an increase in the consumption of fats, what he calls a "classic Westernization pattern".
On top of the dietary switch from grains to fats, Popkin says that consumption of high-calorie drinks are a problem, specifically in Australia and the US. Sugary drinks are being cited as a major cause of obesity more and more often because they replace calorie-free drinks like water, and the extra calories are not taken into account with the consumption of less food. In fact, we were recently reminded that a glass of juice will have as many calories as a glass of soda, if not more. Popkin suggests a 5¢ per gram of sugar tax on sweet drinks to combat the popularity of such drinks and, perhaps, curb the obesity rate, noting that high taxation was able to drive down the number of smokers somewhat. Such a plan could work on a small scale, but to combat the rising obesity level on a global level - not to mention to do something about the millions still starving - will take more work than a tax increase.
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