Nutrition transition and obesity trends in Argentina within the Latin American context

Abstract

The world population has undergone a rapid shift in dietary and physical activity patterns, from traditional diets to a dietary pattern characterized by highly processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, coupled with increasingly sedentary lifestyles. These shifts have been concomitant with demographic, macroeconomic and technological changes, and closely related to the widespread obesity epidemic. Barry Popkin (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) has defined the entire process as Nutrition Transition and has written extensively about its stages, drivers and consequences. Based on this literature and on our previous work, in this chapter we present the key elements of the nutrition transition process in developing countries, describing its distinctive features in the Latin America region, especially in Argentina. We also describe obesity trends in this context. Finally, we discuss public health interventions in the developing world and future perspectives to deal with a still unresolved consequence of the nutrition transition, the obesity and noncommunicable diseases epidemic.