Abstract
As we look to understand future forces that will affect cancer risk, poor dietary patterns, overweight and obesity are significant concerns. In the past two decades these factors have shifted from issues that face higher-income countries to a global pandemic, and are rapidly becoming less a problem of affluence and more a problem of poverty. Rapid shifts in food systems, food pricing and marketing are the causes that underlie this trend. It is imperative to understand these factors and implement global interventions to slow this pandemic. The alternative is an acceleration of the incidence of the main nutrition-related cancers, primarily in developing countries.
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Acknowledgements
B.M.P. is supported by the US National Institutes of Health. The author thanks Frances Dancy and Tom Swasey for their administrative and graphics help, and Martin Wiseman and Geoffrey Cannon of World Cancer Research Fund International. Robert Sandler, Marilie Gammon, and Jessie Satia, UNC-CH, provided invaluable assistance. All are thanked. See www.nutrans.org for further information.
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The Nutrition Transition Program
Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study
The National Nutrition Survey 1995
Pesquisa de Or¸amentos Familiares
The China Health and Nutrition Surveys
2000 Indonesia Family Life Surveys
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Popkin, B. Understanding global nutrition dynamics as a step towards controlling cancer incidence. Nat Rev Cancer 7, 61–67 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2029
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2029
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