(xpost) Poor eating habits killing millions globally, study says

[nitpicker]

https://www.dw.com/en/poor-eating-habits-killing-millions-globally-study-says/a-48194150

Poor eating habits killing millions globally, study says

Date 04.04.2019

People across the world are eating too much of the wrong food and much too little of the healthy types, a study in the journal "The Lancet" says. The study, released on Thursday, indicates that poor diet is responsible for more deaths than any other risk factor, including smoking. The largest killer in the 11 million global deaths attributed to poor diet every year is cardiovascular disease, which is often caused or made worse by obesity.

What did the study find?
More than 10 times the recommended amount of sugary drinks were consumed across the world
People consume 86% more salt on average than the levels generally considered safe.
The global intake of red meat was 18% greater than that considered optimal.
Healthier foods such as whole grains, fruit, nuts and seeds do not feature enough in most people's diets.
Economic inequality is a big factor, with poor people often struggling to meet the "five a day" fruit and vegetable recommendation.
(snip)

How did countries rank? The study put Uzbekistan at the top of the list of countries with the highest risk of diet-related deaths. Israel had the smallest risk — 10 times less than Uzbekistan. Britain ranked 23rd, the United States 43rd, India 118th and China 140th from 195 countries studied.

What do experts recommend? A n EAT-Lancet report released in January said consumption of red meat and sugar should be halved, while that of vegetables, fruits and nuts should be doubled, both to stem a worldwide obesity epidemic and to combat climate change. It said too much salt and a too low intake of whole grains and fruits were the leading dietary risk factors.

[malaise]

1. This is important

Get thee to the greatest page

[janterry]

2. Vermont has a comprehensive plan to address food insecurity BUT

as I review the data - our health stats have gotten worse. We encourage folks to attend our MANY farmers markets with food stamps, we have food banks all over the place that try to encourage healthy food. But just looking at our obesity stats, we've gone from the healthiest state, down a couple of notches - despite this intervention. And that slide appears to be continuing.

It's a tough problem. You don't want to tell folks what to eat. But I volunteer in one of the food pantries. Our folks tend not to pick up the fruits/veggies. They do take all of the many cakes, chips, and soda. We also have lots of meat and they take quite a bit of that (you can come in at least once a month for a big shop, once a week for all of the bread, pasta, fruits/veggies...and more - that you want). And the homeless can come in 3x a week.

The amount of food that people take out is unreal. Boxes and boxes. As I've posted, we were food insecure not more than a few years ago and we got nothing (never went to a food pantry or got food stamps). We just cooked very carefully. So, I'm sympathetic to what it means to be careful. But the sheer quantity of what folks are taking - it's really shocking. We (my daughter and myself) could live on that food alone - for at least a month.

I don't know what the answer is. You can't tell folks what to eat. This feels so important to them (and it IS important).

IDK what to say, but that all of our money and efforts are helping people feel secure in the moment - but the data suggests (and what I can visibly see) is that we are contributing to their early death .

[DFW]

4. All you can do is try to keep them from starving. You can't ration their portions for them.

About 15 years ago, a former governor of yours encouraged me to make a yearly contribution to an organization called the Vermont Food Bank. I still do. But again, I can only hope to keep them from going hungry. I can't keep them from imitating a Roman food orgy.

[DFW]

3. Malaise is right--this is not a side issue, but a vital one

Here in Germany, we have noticed an alarming increase in the last 20 years of obese teenagers, something my wife used to decry every time she visited the USA. Some are the children of immigrant foreigners, but the majority are Germans, mostly girls.

In the cities, at least, they are constantly chugging soft drinks and munching on pizza and beef-based fast food. It's not complicated: eat fat and you get fat.

Here in Europe, anyway (and in many parts of the USA as well), it is not at all difficult to find moderately priced salads and grain-based foods (müssli in the morning instead of fried eggs, e.g.).

After I had my cardiac near-miss 15 years ago (April 29, 2004 is my second birthday), the surgeon called my wife in and told her the "new" rules: no butter, no red meat, no eggs, no cheese (I'm sometimes remiss there), and as much in the way of unprocessed vegetables and fresh fruit as possible. Either that, or prepare for widowhood. I'm still around, so obviously she paid attention.

When our elder daughter spent a semester of high school in the States, she came back shockingly fat--in just four months! She took off again when she came back to Germany. but her girlfriends in the USA took her out for fast food and Starbucks every afternoon after school, and she quickly started to look like them. When she got back here, and shocker her friends, she knew what she had done to herself, and vowed never again--something she has luckily stuck to, even though she is living in the States again.

Changing your diet when you have every option not to is not an easy thing. But it CAN be done. I made the transition with relatively little pain. Of course, when you come off the operating table and the surgeon tells you that you might have died if you had gotten there a day later, it does leave a lasting impression. Sixteen year olds think they're immortal, but I have a friend who went through medical school. He said that when they examined the bodies of teenagers and twenty-somethings that had died in car crashes, even they were experiencing the beginnings of arterial clogging. These are kids who would have had heart attacks in their forties, had they lived. The trouble is that teenagers with shapeless thighs are bulging out of their shorts think they know everything. The last thing they want to hear from us is that they don't. ("ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now" )

[hlthe2b]

5. If you go and look at the price of fresh and frozen produce--vegetables and fruits from the lens of

someone with the most minimal of food budgets, the problem is obvious--and nuts, are you kidding? Then you look at what is cheap to basically fill the belly and avoid discomfort from hunger: Ramen noodles that store forever (have essentially nothing but calories) but cost about 30cents each! We should provide pricing incentives instead for produce--these vital foods.

[mitch96]

6. It's not rocket science. Look around the world at the most healthy people with longevity.

The regions have been called "Blue Zones". Long healthy lives. The article mentioned basically what these people eat. Mostly whole not processed foods. Very little meats and fats. The fats they do get are "healthy" fats. A super Mediterranean diet if you will. The area in the US with healthy older folks are in Loma Linda California. Seven Day Adventist adhere to this way of eating and also maintain their weight and exercise. These are the thing that the people living in the Blue Zones all have in common.. Very low incidents of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancers... Like I said, not rocket science, just do what these people do and stay healthy. Not easy in this day and age of fast food and over indulgence. I want to be healthy and active till I give up the ghost. I do NOT want to be living the last years of my life in some hospital full of tubes, drugs and in pain.
After seeing this in my work in hospitals for over 40 years it's not for me. YMMV..
m