Members of the health and nutrition community from Italy and the United States came together to discuss the multiple challenges that obesity presents. Researchers, doctors, government officials, and corporate executives came together to discuss the causes—and the economic and medical implications—of obesity and the needed policy and corporate interventions to address what is a global epidemic.
“Although infectious diseases will decline over time, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) will be a leading cause of death, especially in developed countries,” remarked Gabriele Riccardi, professor of Human Nutritional Sciences at the University of Naples Federico II and member of the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Advisory Board. People who suffer from obesity are also more vulnerable to NCDs, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, so tackling obesity is an important step in addressing global health issues.
Panelists also looked at the connections between nutrition and the environment, especially how consumption habits might contribute to environmental sustainability. Riccardi discussed the “double pyramid” which was created by BCFN after extensively reviewing various food categories in all parts of the food chain from harvest to consumption. The double pyramid highlights how healthier foods also tend to have a lower impact on the environment.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the health and food sectors are not—and should not—be regarded as mutually exclusive from each other and it is reassuring that global actors from both sectors are coming together to tackle some of our most pressing health, nutritional and environmental issues.
By Supriya Kumar
Danielle Nierenberg, an expert on livestock and sustainability, currently serves as Project Director of State of World 2011 for the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, DC-based environmental think tank. Her knowledge of factory farming and its global spread and sustainable agriculture has been cited widely in the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune, the Washington Post, and
other publications.
Danielle worked for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. She is currently traveling across Africa looking at innovations that are working to alleviate hunger and poverty and blogging everyday at Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet. She has a regular column with the Mail & Guardian, the Kansas City Star, and the Huffington Post and her writing was been featured in newspapers across Africa including the Cape Town Argus, the Zambia Daily Mail, Coast Week (Kenya), and other African publications. She holds an M.S. in agriculture, food, and environment from Tufts University and a B.A. in environmental policy from Monmouth College.
