While smallpox, measles and HIV recede in many areas of the world, the diseases of Western society – including diabetes – are about to hit them hard.
Thanks to the arrival of of fast food culture in these countries many of the poor can now afford MacDonald’s and other similar high calorie, low nutrition, food. They are feeding themselves up – and making themselves ill. This insidious process is one of the unfortunate by-products of modernisation.
First comes obesity; then diabetes follows in its wake – typically with about a 10 year time lag. Following that comes Metabolic Syndrome – that insidious combination of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure caused by insulin resistance of the cells.
Diabetes is set to achieve epidemic proportions in developing countries including India and China. India now is estimated to have 32 million diabetics – many of them don’t even know they have the disease. China has around 40 million diabetics.
The people in developing countries tend to see Western ideas as sophisticated. For them, it is cool to eat MacDonalds‘ low quality food. They just don’t realize what problems they are storing up for themselves.
(Just as fast-food-eating Westerners don’t realise – or perhaps don’t care enough.)
