As developing countries become more affluent, more people are buying computers, TVs and cars.
A new international study shows these purchases are resulting in people sitting more and being less active, with the result that obesity and type 2 diabetes levels are increasing. The study is called “The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology” (PURE).
Scott Lear (PhD) , is a professor in the Department of Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology in the Health Sciences Faculty of Simon Fraser University in west coast British Columbia is lead author of the research paper.
ListenThe international study was published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
The research involved questions about lifestyle of over 150, 000 participants in 17 countries. These include for example, Canada, the US, Sweden, Malaysia, Poland, China, Iran, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe and polled people across the income spectrum in those countries.
Participants were asked about physical activity, sitting time and diet, and whether they owned a TV, computer or car, or had diabetes. Their height and weight were measured.
Their findings showed that in low income countries, people who have acquired these trappings of greater affluence, have a 400% higher increase in obesity rates, and 250% increase in incidence of diabetes.
Televisions were the most common electronic device in developing countries – 78 percent of households had one – followed by 34 percent that owned a computer and 32 percent with a car.
Just four percent of people in low-income countries had all three, compared to 83 percent of people in high-income countries.
The study showed the more devices people had , the less active they were and the more time they spent sitting
The average obesity rate in Canada is 25 percent of the population, 35 percent in the US, while in developing countries, the rate for those with no devices was about 3.5 percent. In those same countries however, ownership of these devices increased with ownership of such devices up to an obesity percentage, up to 14.5 percent when owning all three, and a diabetes increase from 4.7% of those with no devices, up to 11.7% for those with all three, again in the low income countries.
The study showed that generally speaking in developing countries, the more devices one had, the greater the increase in a sedentary lifestyle, weight and health problems.
However in developed countries, there was little to no such increase showing that the problems were already established.
Professor Lear says this shows that while everyone should be concerned about their activity levels, developing countries should be especially aware of what appears to be a health crisis in the making and work to avoid the obesity and diabetes rates already taxing health care in developed countries.
The main PURE study and its components are funded by the Population Health Research Institute, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and through unrestricted grants from several pharmaceutical companies, both in Canada and in overseas locations
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