The economics of 'diabesity'
In the United States, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development projects the 2.5% annual growth for the next 20 years will fall to 1.8% as the bodies of U.S. workers-marinating in glucose-accomplish less and fail earlier than those of their less-wealthy-but-healthier parents.
The worldwide trend for the past few decades is characterized by expansion of the middle class-something that we in the United States consider to be a positive development.
But the middle class, according to a recent 70-page report by the multinational bank Morgan Stanley, is expanding in more ways than one.1
“Higher income leads to a higher rate of sugar consumption and more sedentary life,” reports Carmen Nuzzo, a European economist who co-authored the report.
Per capita sugar consumption has climbed nearly fivefold over the past century to 53 pounds per year. A huge chunk of humanity finds itself, for the first time, with the income necessary to purchase sweet foods and beverages. As American diets have spread around the world-and pizza has replaced fresh fruits and vegetables as the preferred comestible for teenagers worldwide-a condition known as “diabesity” has become endemic.
According to the report,
Even in the United States, with our remarkable medical infrastructure, lost productivity from diabetes in 2012 is calculated at $69 billion.2
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