chapter 4 - DRK

Strictly under embargo until Wednesday 22 September at 00:01 GMT (02:01 Geneva time)Urban life affects the way people work, move around and relax. Office jobs require lessphysical exertion than farm work, while getting around in a city is more likely to involvesome form of transport – often door to door, if it is a car or motorcycle – rather thanwalking. Pressure to build within urban areas can leave less and less space for parks andareas of recreation. “What urbanization does is to change behaviour patterns,” notedWHO’s Kumaresan. “People have different eating habits, different levels of physicalactivity. If there are no fields or parks, kids have nowhere to run around and play. Theseare some examples of what urbanization does to our changing patterns of lifestyle.”Although there is no firm statistical correlation between rising urbanization and thegrowth of non-communicable diseases, there is no doubt that both have been advancingalmost hand in hand. At the beginning of the last century, only some 10 per cent of theworld’s population was urban, and infectious diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis,were still by far the biggest causes of premature death among adults. But by the final decadesof the 20th century, nearly half of the world already lived in urban centres, some toosmall to be considered cities, and the burden of early death had also changed radically.In the developed countries of North America and Europe, non-communicable diseaseshad long been fatal, which is why they used to be known as the ‘diseases of the rich’.But by the beginning of the 21st century, 60 per cent of premature deaths aroundthe world were being caused by non-communicable disease. In Latin America andthe Carib bean, they account for two out of every three deaths, according to the PanAmerican Health Organization (PAHO).New ways, new dietThe Gulf region is a case in point. Over the last 30 years it has experienced remarkableeconomic growth, modernization and urbanization. As the population has becomericher and increasingly urban, diets have changed and now include a greater intake ofprocessed and fast foods, rich in fats, saturated fats, salt and sugars, all of which fuelobesity. The percentage of people who are overweight in Kuwait, the United ArabEmirates and Egypt ranges from 68 per cent to 74 per cent.In the Americas, the story is similar. The Latin American and Caribbean region is oneof the most urbanized in the world, with more than three-quarters of its 433 millionpeople living in towns and cities. Eating habits are changing, with people consumingless fruit, fewer vegetables and more processed food. According to PAHO, 50 to 60per cent of adults in Latin America and the Caribbean are overweight or obese. Evenmore worrying for the future, the same goes for 7 to 12 per cent of children under 5.At the same time, 30 to 60 per cent of the population do not take the minimum levelof exercise – 30 minutes a day – recommended by WHO. Predictably, in the past fewyears, the region has witnessed an explosion in chronic non-communicable disease– cancers, hypertension and heart problems. According to WHO figures, more thanWorld Disasters Report 2010 – Focus on urban risk105