The World Is Fat: The Fads, Trends, Policies, and Products That Are Fattening the Human Race by Barry Popkin

From the Publisher

A compelling look at the global trends that have led to today's obesity crisis

The planet's 1.6 billion overweight people by far outnumber the 700 million who are undernourished. This figure would have seemed ludicrous just fifty years ago. As a result of unprecedented trends in technology, globalization, government policy, and the food industry that are changing how we eat, drink, and move, we now live in a world populated by overweight people with debilitating health problems.

In this fascinating look at the striking changes in both our lifestyles and food system since World War II, Barry Popkin shows how present options for eating and drinking- especially when combined with a dramatic reduction in physical activity-are clashing with millions of years of evolution to fatten the human race. Popkin argues that widespread obesity-and the chronic health problems that contribute to the bulk of deaths in the world-is less a result of poor dietary choices than about a hi-tech, interconnected world in which governments and multinational corporations have extraordinary power to shape our everyday lives.

The Washington Post - Fuchsia Dunlop

Popkin, a distinguished nutritionist with more than 30 years' experience in international research, offers a concise, lucid overview of how the human diet has gone awry in the last half-century.

Publishers Weekly

Popkin, a renowned obesity and nutrition expert, investigates what the World Health Organization has defined as a global obesity epidemic, identifying familiar culprits (nutrient-poor, sugar-rich foods; larger serving sizes and less exercise)-but introduces fresh research to demonstrate how our drinking habits have contributed to the problem. The author follows the expanding waistlines of four families in the United States, Mexico and India to argue that obesity is less a result of "gluttony and sloth" than a confluence of factors rooted in a fundamental conflict between human biology and modern society, where more calories are consumed than expended, and governments and multinational corporations shape everyday lives (a detailed section traces the growth of modern food and beverage conglomerates). Unfortunately, the book remains a disjointed portrayal of this thesis: Popkin never fully explores the impact of energy drinks and sodas and interrupts his observations of the four families to wax nostalgic (and unscientific) on his youthful dietary and exercise habits in rural Wisconsin. The salience and urgency of the obesity epidemic is incontrovertible, however, and Popkin's is a readable and ambitious introduction. (Jan.)

What People Are Saying

Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs
"The global obesity epidemic affects all of us - families, communities, and nations around the world. It's a weighty subject in every way, with dire consequences for well being, life expectancy, and economic productivity in the years ahead unless seriously confronted. The World is Fat is compelling reading on this complex and growing societal threat. Dr. Barry Popkin is one of the world's most distinguished experts on obesity, the global food system, and nutrition, with extensive first-hand knowledge of the trends in the U.S., Europe, India, China, and beyond. His writing is remarkably clear and concise, free of jargon, and full of wisdom, balance, and good judgment. His call to action and practical suggestions to individuals, communities, and political leaders, will be read with enormous interest and benefit around the world."--(Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, author of The End of Poverty and Common Wealth)

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents