US Eating Habits Spreading

After making sure that every American has the opportunity to consume high calorie doughnuts, Krispy Kreme has expanded its market to include Europe. And it are not alone. With fast food chains opening and sugary food commercials all over television screens, Europe is adapting to the American diet – and scales show the result. An estimated 21 percent of men and 23.5 percent of women are now considered obese in Britain, alarmingly close to rates of obesity in America. People are becoming sedentary and, as one British medical professor notes, it is now a "remarkable thing" if "anybody stays thin." While governments are proposing policies to encourage people to exercise, food companies are trying to persuade people to eat the more delicious – but unhealthier – food now widely available. Children are bombarded with images of snack foods, without ever seeing advertisements for healthier fruits and vegetables. Officials fear that only stringent regulation of advertisiing and health information will stop consumers from tilting the scales into poor healthy. – YaleGlobal