Title: The effects of current dietary trends and consumption patterns on health: evidence from the UK

Authors: Andreas G. Anastasiou, Athanasios Anastasiou

Addresses: Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, University of Reading, UK; Bank of Santander, 6 Greville Road, NW6 5HU, London, UK. ' Department of Corporate Planning and Information Systems, Technological Education Institute of Patras, Greece; Department of Economics, University of Patras, 26500 Patras, Greece

Abstract: This paper is an overview of the effects that current dietary trends and consumption patterns have had upon the health of the vast majority of the world|s population, with a focus on the UK. The increasing prevalence of obesity and other diet-related diseases is a global epidemic which is predicted to result in unsustainable healthcare costs with impossible demands on surgical and drug treatments. The impact of poor nutritional choices and dietary trends is even more apparent in the UK, where high rates of cardiovascular diseases and obesity pose a serious alert for its citizen|s health and well-being. By reporting chronic diseases as well as obesity rates together with the costs to both the economy and society, it highlights the need for intervention.

Keywords: dietary trends; consumption patterns; UK healthcare research; diet-related diseases; economic costs; societal costs; United Kingdom; obesity rates; nutritional choices; cardiovascular disease; health; well-being; chronic diseases; intervention.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2009.028463

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2009 Vol.1 No.3, pp.318 - 333

Published online: 17 Sep 2009 *

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