Fat and Sugar in the Global Diet: Dietary Diversity in the Nutrition Transition
Author(s)
Drewnowski, Adam
Abstract
There is a major global paradox in the making. As developing nations, particularly those in East and South East Asia, embrace a more diverse diet with a higher proportion of meat, milk, dairy products, fresh vegetables and fruits, the already affluent countries devote major educational resources to promoting simpler, plant-based diets rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber but low in fat. Whether affluent nations will ever voluntarily adopt diets of poverty is, of course, an open question. Current evidence suggests that global economic development and the nutrition transition are inextricably linked. Arguably (and this is a hotly contested point), the worldwide trend toward increased consumption of dietary fats will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse. One reason is that diets higher in sugar and fat are typically more diverse and more varied. A search for dietary variety appears to be an innate human trait.
