Technology, transport, globalization and the nutrition transition food policy

Diet and activity have been affected by the rapid worldwide shifts in technological innovations reducing energy expenditures during leisure, transportation, and work; globalized modern food processing, marketing and distribution techniques; global mass media. The increases occur increasingly in rural areas on all continents. The resultant global increase in obesity increasingly is shifting the burden of obesity to the poor. While few direct linkages between globalization of trade in goods, services, and technology can be directly linked to diet and activity, a strong case exists for globalization’s role as a key underlying force behind this stage of the nutrition transition.