Economic Progress And Longevity: Result of Ecological Analysis

Background The economic growth at the end of the 20th century made possible deep changes in the consumption of goods and state of public health all over the world. People in low-income countries fare better, live longer, but still spend on food most of their income, and suffer from low food quality. These countries demonstrate a decreasing prevalence of stunting and the rising prevalence of obesity. Methods We did a retrospective longitudinal analysis based on the World Bank and Global Burden of Disease data for the period from 1980 to 2015. Data for 119 countries were available. We grouped countries in quintiles of gross domestic product per capita in purchasing power parity and graphed life expectancy at birth vs obesity prevalence age-adjusted in adults for both sexes. Results Wе found the long-term increase in life expectancy with an increase in the prevalence of obesity in countries of all income levels. There is a higher prevalence of obesity in poor countries at an equal level of life expectancy of the affluent countries. Discussion and conclusion Economic growth in all countries is accompanied by an increase in obesity prevalence. In poor countries, access to food and the food quality is limited as well as customs of consumption are different. It leads to a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity. It may be the cause of the slower progress in life expectancy.