The nutrition transition in high- and low-income countries: what are the policy lessons?

This article examines the speed of changes in diets, activity patterns, and body composition, summarizes major dietary changes, and provides some sense of the way the burden of obesity is shifting from the rich to the poor globally. The focus is on the lower- and middle-income world with some examples from higher-income countries. Then macro policy options are examined. A case study of edible oil pricing in China is presented. The challenge is for the agricultural economics profession to focus on this major global issue-one which challenges some of the earlier paradigms of food policy and agricultural development. Copyright 2007 International Association of Agricultural Economists.