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Sunday, April 29, 2007

Let's take a look at some of the statistics of obesity rates in the world today by clicking on this link --> http://www.annecollins.com/obesity/worldwide-obesity.htm

A quick look at the statistics and one would realize that there is an increasing trend in the obesity rate of people across the globe, not just in the United States, but also in third world countries like Africa. One would think that obesity would only affect first world countries as they are the ones who have sufficient income to spend on food. However, the increase in obesity also occurs in developing countries- but for a totally different reason.
First, let us display more statistics to prove this trend in developing countries. Kosrae, one of the four states in Micronesia in Papua New Guinea has 88% of its adults overweight, and 53% out of this number are obese. So how is this made possible when Papua New Guinea is one of the most rural countries in the world today?

The culprit is none other then globalization. Globalization has the power to change the diets of all people. With globalization, importing and exporting goods internationally are made possible with the help of modern transportation. And this is precisely the reason for the increased number of people being obese everywhere. More and more countries are working towards a wage-based economy which has caused them to be more reliant on imported foodstuff. This also explains why Kosrae is now in such a dire predicament. Before globalization took place, local food such as fish would come in fresh and be consumed, but right now, the locals there would go for packaged food lacking much needed nutrient. So what happened to the local food? Again, blame this on globalization. Federated States of Micronesia had sold its fishing rights to Japan in the year 1993.

With the existence of Mutinational Corporations (MNCs) and mass production, the prices for these imported processed foods will be lower than others. People living in poverty will therefore go for these foods as they are cheaper but all these foods are usually high in calories which will also inevitably compromise their nutrient levels. In the past where the rich will usually consume majority of the fat, it is now vice versa, where the poor are consuming majority of the fat content and accompanying obesity will always be diseases such as diabetes, cancer and nutritional deficiencies as stated in the article, putting a toll on their health.

However, it is also unfair to say that globalization has done wrong to every single individual. With changes, there will always be bound to have two sides of the story. Whilst it is true that globalization has caused obesity across the globe, it has also improved food security. The 2004 tsunami in Ache, Indonesia, caused hundreds and thousands to die and left many more homeless and starving. Without the food aid of neighboring countries such as Singapore and the United States, many of the homeless would not have survived the ordeal and be on the road to adapting to their new lives. On a side note, it is also because of globalization that made it possible to send rescue workers to help tend to the injured and clearing of debris and corpses to prevent the outbreak of a disease.

All in all, it can be argued that globalization both benefits and harms us. It depends on which aspect we are looking at and from whose point of view. Globalization can be seen to harm the people in Kosrae, but can also be seen to save the lives of the people in Ache.

Janice Fan
The Environmental/ Health Expert

Labels: food aid, Globalization, health, obesity

Globalised @ 4:53 PM