Obesity now appears alongside malnutrition in the developing world

Two of the greatest issues facing humanity are hunger and obesity. "Perhaps, most bizarrely, obesity now appears alongside malnutrition in the developing world....Food, its production, distribution and consumption are receiving more attention than ever before. Talk of food crises is appearing in all major media outlets and debate still rages on over the collapse of the Doha round of the World Trade Organisation in 2008. As affluent customers agonise over food miles, millions still struggle to command a basic diet. Quite clearly, the paradox that exists within the global food system is one that the world urgently needs to resolve.”


Through her teaching, research, articles and publications, Dr Liz Young, Senior Lecturer in Geography at Staffordshire University, UK, is increasing the understanding of these inextricably linked problems and encouraging changes that might reduce some of the worst aspects of our contemporary diets. 


“My work is all about food and what people eat,” she says. “Specifically, it is about why some people have too much food and others have too little. My teaching explores the geography behind the supermarket shelves and the networks that link us and our food to people and places around the world. Most importantly, it examines the implications of global dietary changes over recent decades. I try to understand why and how diets have changed and investigate whether these changes are good for us, others and the environment. I also investigate how today’s changing diets in China, India and Asia are resulting in a greater incidence of the so-called ‘diseases of affluence. The most blatant weakness of our current food system is that it fails to feed approximately one billion people adequately each year, yet manages to overfeed 800 million people worldwide,” she adds. 


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