[ad_1]
Image: Istock.com/huettenhoelscher via AFP Relaxnews
More than four billion people could be overweight by 2050, and 1.5 billion of them obese, if the current global trend toward processed foods continues, a one-of-a-kind study predicted Wednesday.
Warning of a health and environmental crisis of “mind-boggling magnitude”, experts at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) said that global demand for food would increase by 50% by mid-century, outpacing the capacity of the Earth to sustain nature.
Food production already absorbs three-quarters of the world’s fresh water and a third of its land, and accounts for up to one-third of greenhouse gas emissions.
By providing a long-term overview of changes in global eating habits between 1965 and 2100, the researchers used an open source model to forecast how demand for food would respond to a variety of factors such as population growth, aging, growth in body mass and decreased physical activity. and increased food waste.
They found that “business as usual,” a continuation of current trends, will likely see more than four billion people, or 45% of the world’s population, overweight by 2050.
The model predicted that 16% would be obese, compared to 9% currently among the 29% of the population who are overweight.
“Increasing food waste and increased consumption of animal protein mean that the environmental impact of our agricultural system will spiral out of control,” said Benjamin Bodirsky, lead author of the study published in Nature Scientific Reports.
“Whether it’s greenhouse gases, nitrogen pollution or deforestation: we are pushing the limits of our planet and exceeding them.”
While trends vary between regions, the authors said global eating habits were shifting away from plant-based and starch-based diets to diets more “rich in sugar, fat and animal foods, with highly processed food products.”
At the same time, the study found that as a result of growing inequality coupled with food waste and loss (food that is produced but not consumed due to insufficient storage or overbought), around 500 million people they will remain undernourished by mid-century. .
“There is enough food in the world; the problem is that the poorest people on our planet simply don’t have the income to buy them, ”said co-author Prajal Pradhan.
“And in rich countries, people don’t feel the economic and environmental consequences of wasting food.”
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in a special report last year that humanity will face increasingly painful trade-offs between food security and rising temperatures decades from now, unless emissions are reduced and stopped. unsustainable agriculture and deforestation. RGA
RELATED STORIES:
Obese people may need knee replacement surgery at a younger age than normal weight patients
Increasing Red Meat Intake May Also Increase Risk of Death, Study Says
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
For comments, complaints or inquiries, please contact us.
[ad_2]
