A world of weight gain

According to a recent BBC News article, there are now more overweight people in the world than there are underweight people.

This is really a remarkable change from, say, the last thirty years. Typically, of course, Americans have been singled out as being among those most in need of weight loss, but, apparently, Americans no longer share this dubious honor. Residents of Egypt and Mexico are also joining the club.

Here are the actual estimated figures on how many people may be overweight versus underweight:

overweight - up to 1.6 billion individuals

underweight - as many as 800 million individuals, or, roughly, half as much.

Why the change globally? Food consumption habits that, increasingly eschew fruits and vegetables in favor of cheaper, more highly processed foods. In other words, eating fewer health foods and more, for lack of a better phrase, junk foods.

Of course, this has been the situation in the United States and other industrialized nations for quite some time. Fast food and highly refined and processed foods tend to be convenient (which appeals to people on the go). And with rising food costs, they tend to be more affordable (which appeals to a limited budget), even if the health benefit is negligible.