Abstract

Food intake and dietary behavior, along with physical activity, are key environmental determinants of both energy imbalance as well as achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. Increasingly globalized, obesogenic diets and dietary behaviors have created a mainly urban Asian childhood obesity epidemic, which, coupled with persistent undernutrition, present a complex double burden of malnutrition. Some dietary patterns associated with Asian childhood overweight include snacking and eating out; consumption of fast food, sweetened beverages, and excessive meat; unhealthy macronutrient energy proportions; and a preference for refined grains. Strong evidenced-based measures must be created or identified that can adjust these ongoing obesogenic dietary shifts in more healthful directions, targeting lower-income subgroups in some of these societies. Measures must sensitively prevent and control the complex, interrelated diet problems presenting the nutritional double burden that, if not controlled, may overwhelm societies and health systems, undermining further Asian progress in health and socioeconomic development. Verf.-Referat