Is the world converging to a 'Western diet'?

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To test the nutrition transition hypothesis of global dietary convergence to a 'Western diet'.

Design

Consumer-waste-adjusted FAO Food Balance Sheets are used to construct for each country a Western Diet Similarity Index (WSI), expressed as a ratio of calories from animal-sourced foods, oils, fats and sweeteners to total per capita calories. β-Convergence and associated speed are estimated by growth regressions using 1992-2013 panel data. Speed of convergence, a non-linear function of income per capita, globalisation and urbanisation, determines the steady-state or long-term global WSI. The long-term global WSI is compared with the WSI of the group of countries with the highest population-weighted average WSI. The group, determined by K-means cluster analysis, cons

SUBMITTER: Azzam A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10195558 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature