Why WHO's diet guidelines are unrealistic for many people around the world
Article content
An unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are leading global risks to health, according to the World Health Organization.
Article content
Article content
But the problem, an SFU researcher says, is that advice is based on rich-world premises: In high-wage countries, fruit and vegetables don't take as much out of household income, and an hour at the gym or paddling after work are generally affordable choices.
Article content
Article content
'Physical activity patterns are clearly different based on the development of a country, and based on individual or household income,' said Scott Lear, professor of health sciences and chair of the Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation's cardiovascular prevention research.
Article content
Article content
'We can't always take our lessons from high-income countries, develop (international) guidelines, and then apply them to what is 80 per cent of the rest of the world.'
Article content
The study Lear was part of — Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology, or PURE — began in India in 2002 and grew to include 28 countries on five continents, with 212,000 people participating, examining society's influences on chronic noncommunicable disease around the world.
Article content
Lear's focus was on cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 80 per cent of deaths.
Article content
Article content
The WHO's diet guidelines suggest at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day (excluding starchy roots), but that's just unrealistic for a lot of people, Lear said.
Article content
Article content
'It's another thing I found interesting is the finding about fruits and vegetables,' he said, 'and how farmers in low-income countries are priced out.
Article content
'Field workers say if they eat what they grow, they lose so much money by not selling it.
Article content
'For many of these farmers, getting the recommended minimum of five servings of fruits and vegetables a day would eat up 50 per cent of their household income.'
Article content
Another thing that is mainly taken for granted by the WHO, Lear said, is that any movement is good movement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
4 days ago
- CTV News
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
CTV News
5 days ago
- CTV News
A new COVID-19 subvariant has emerged. Here is why experts in Ontario say there is no reason to panic
A new subvariant of COVID-19 that has been circulating in some parts of the world for months has now made its way to the United States but experts say that there is no cause for concern just yet. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), NB.1.8.1 derives from the recombinant variant XDV.1.5.1 and is one of six current 'variants under monitoring' due to its mutations and global spread. Dr. Fahad Razak, Canada Research Chair at the University of Toronto and internal medicine physician at St. Michael's Hospital, tells CTV News Toronto that a variant under monitoring—or a VUM—is different from variant of concerns, which often resulted in an exponential rise in transmission when they emerged and quickly became dominant during the pandemic. The key difference between both variant types, Razak says, is that VUMs will likely not swamp the health-care system or cause more severe illness like variants of concern will. 'Over the last couple of years, despite seeing many mutations, we have not had a new variant of concern emerge and this current variant, NB.1.8.1 is being called a variant (under) monitoring, meaning that it is clearly spreading, but it is not showing any of those concerning features that make us more worried,' Razak said. Here's what we know about the new subvariant so far: What is NB.1.8.1? The WHO says NB.1.8.1 has been detected in 22 countries as of May 18. This represented 10.7 per cent of COVID cases seen worldwide in the last full week of April, which the WHO says is a notable rise from the 2.5 per cent noted in the first week of April. Compared to other co-circulating variants, the number of cases related to NB.1.8.1 is growing faster—however, the WHO notes its expansion has only recently started to rise and that some regions have not yet detected it. Has it made its way to Ontario? Based on the latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), which breaks down the percentage of COVID-19 cases by variant grouping on a weekly basis, there are no cases of NB.1.8.1. recorded in the country. Both Razak and Infectious diseases expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch say it is likely the new variant will make its way here eventually but Razak notes Canada does not provide a 'reliable estimate across the country anymore.' 'We used to do regular testing for sequence across the country. They would be coordinated by public health labs in each province and then collated federally,' Razak said. 'That was done during the peak of the pandemic and (had) a lot of value in helping us understand the degree of spread, especially when we had these variants of concern.' If there was a new variant that showed more severe disease, a high degree of spread or evading the vaccine, Razak thinks many parts of the world would be vulnerable since the level of monitoring is not what it used to be. 'We don't have the level of uptake of vaccines that we had two or three years ago, and so those factors would mean you could have something spread and you would have lower levels of protection, and so you could have a lot of people sick,' Razak said. But, Razak says, that there hasn't been a major variant of concern in years. Public Health Ontario tells CTV News Toronto that, to date, this variant has not been included in its reporting but note its next report will be published next week. Toronto Public Health, meanwhile, does not break down what variants of COVID-19 are seen in in the city. It does provide general data for how prevalent the virus is at this time. The latest epidemiological data from TPH shows a 1.8 per cent positivity rate from May 11 to May 17, showing the activity levels of the virus are currently 'low.' Are the symptoms any different? Bogoch says the symptoms from NB.1.8.1. are similar to what one would get if they contracted any Omicron sub-lineage in the last three years, which could cause fever, fatigue, cough, and shortness of breath. 'There's a well-trodden path of who's at greater risk for more severe manifestations of the virus, namely, people on the older end of the spectrum and people with underlying medical comorbidities,' Bogoch said. 'So, it doesn't sound like, apart from a subtle genetic change, it doesn't sound like there's anything new about this (variant) in terms of clinical presentation, risk factors for severity of illness (and) transmission.' The guidance on how to protect yourself also remains unchanged, Razak says. 'When you have periods like this, like, let's say we have started to see a high degree of spread in Canada, the advice that we've given the last few years would hold just as strongly. If your vaccine hasn't been updated, update your vaccine,' Razak said. Masking in crowded places, frequently washing hands and enhancing air circulation when indoors are also other methods to prevent the virus from spreading between person to person. What if you haven't had a recent vaccine? Bogoch says that, for some time now, the COVID-19 vaccines 'doesn't protect against infection nearly to the same extent as it once did.' 'The vaccines can provide a little bit of protection against infection for a short period of time—they can—but the real role of the vaccine is to significantly reduce the risk of severe illness that is primarily in those with risk factors for severe illness,' Bogoch said. 'Long are the days where the vaccine was a formidable force in preventing infection and subsequent onward transmission. We haven't been that era in years.' The vaccine can reduce the risk of infection but after about six months, its protection starts to wane, Razak says. 'Our National Advisory Committee on Immunization, they have continued to say that high-risk individuals—for example, older individuals, people who are immunosuppressed, people who are being treated for rheumatologic illness or cancer where their immune systems are notworking—they would benefit from getting their updates every six months,' Razak said.
Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Pakistan's anti-polio drive suffers a blow after a northern enclave reports first case in 7 years
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan efforts to eliminate polio suffered another blow on Monday after a northern enclave reported its first case in seven years. Overall, it was the country's 11th case since January, despite the launch of several immunization drives. The virus was detected in a child from the district of Diamer in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, according to the country's polio eradication program. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only two countries where the spread of the wild polio virus has not been stopped, according to the World Health Organization. There are ongoing outbreaks of polio linked to the oral vaccine in 10 other countries, mostly in Africa. The new case was reported after Pakistan on Sunday wrapped up its third nationwide polio vaccination drive of the year, aiming to immunize 45 million children. Mohammad Iqbal, a director at the polio program in the northwest, said local health officials were still trying to determine how the poliovirus that was found in the southern port city of Karachi had infected the child in Diamer. During the summer season, thousands of tourists from Karachi and elsewhere visit tourist resorts in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan's polio eradication program has been running anti-polio campaigns for years, though health workers and the police assigned to protect them are often targeted by militants who falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children. Since the 1990s, attacks on polio vaccination teams have killed more than 200 workers and security personnel.
