Premium
Changing Food Environments and Health Outcomes: Quantifying the Nutrition Transition in Global Nutrition Research
Author(s) -
Becker Haley V,
Eaton Jacob C,
Iannotti Lora L
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.639.51
Subject(s) - nutrition transition , agriculture , per capita , gross domestic product , gross national income , scale (ratio) , per capita income , economic growth , global health , geography , environmental health , development economics , medicine , economics , health care , population , body mass index , cartography , archaeology , pathology , overweight
Background The last century has born witness to extensive changes in global food and activity environments, resulting in alterations of diet, nutritional status, physical activity behaviors, and related health outcomes, otherwise known as the nutrition transition. Previous efforts to quantify a country's stage in the nutrition transition have maintained only a regional focus, and no study has yet to systematically quantify the nutrition transition on a global scale. This study fills that gap by providing an objective measure of nutrition transition across countries of all income brackets with potential for global application. Methods Using data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 52 countries were selected for analysis representing high‐, middle‐, and low‐income countries from each of the WHO Region Groupings. A ten‐point score was developed to identify each country's stage in the nutrition transition, resulting in Nutrition Transition Scores (NTSs) for each country. Correlations were calculated between NTSs and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Results There was a significant, positive association between NTSs and GDP per capita (r=0.671, n=52, p<0.01). High‐income countries (HICs) had higher NTSs than low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). The lowest NTSs were clustered in the African and Asian WHO‐designated regions; these include: Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zambia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. Conclusions This study adds to the literature by highlighting correlated determinants of the nutrition transition, giving a clearer outlook on how countries develop in terms of the inputs and impacts on their food systems. Roughly half of the countries transitioning between the third and fourth stages scored near the 50 th percentile for both stunting and obesity, representing a looming epidemic of the dual‐burden of malnutrition. Identifying a country's position in nutrition transition allows for more meaningful international comparisons of programs, policies, and research. As GDP per capita and NTSs were significantly, positively correlated, this warrants further investigation into the relationship between economic growth, globalization, and the resulting changes in food and activity environments.