Global obesity has doubled since 1980
Global obesity rates double since 1980: study
No surprise there. As more and more countries adopt a “Western-style” diet, this trend will only continue.
When will government agencies and health officials recognize that the low-fat, high-carbohydrate experiment has failed? They complain about trans fats yet forget that it was the low-fat doctrine that caused food manufacturers to remove lard and fat from their foods and replace it with trans in the first place. Also, at the same time they were removing fat content, the food manufacturers were adding salt, sugar, and an assortment of nutritionally useless fillers to make the stuff taste half decent. Unfortunately, this has been at the expense of our health.
If you are trying to follow the Canadian or US dietary guidelines, don’t. There is still too much financial and political incentive for them to continue pushing grains and starches as the foundation of a healthy diet. Stick to fresh and whole foods like meats, eggs, fish, veggies, some fruits, and fats, and try to reduce intake of breads, pastas, potatoes, cereal grains, and other highly-refined foods (like most anything sold in a box or package). And of course, try to get off your ass a few times per day.
And remember—fat doesn’t make you fat!