How Western Diets Are Making The World Sick

In an article in the Masionneuve Journal, Physician Kevin Patterson describes his experiences working as an internist at the Canadian Combat Surgical Hospital in Afghanistan. It is fascinating to hear him discuss the significant differences that he noted on medical imaging and in treating the Afghan soldiers in comparison to what he was used to seeing in his native country of Canada. In the western world, organs are easily seeing due to the amount of fat surrounding them, but this was not the case in the Afghan people. Furthermore, the contents of the abdomen were often externalized with trauma to the abdominal cavity, something that was rarely an issue with western individuals. He goes on to compare what he saw in Afghanistan to what he has seen in other nations that have been more affected by western culture, such as in the Pacific. This is also something that I have witnessed first hand. The way in which Western culture has influenced these small and isolated nations is remarkable. About 8 years ago I spent a few months in the Marshall Islands as a teacher. It was shocking to see how thoroughly western diet had influenced my students. I was in awe the first time I saw a student of kindergarten age walk in eating a packet of instant ramen seasoning and drinking a coke at 8 o’clock in the morning. As I asked if this was the child’s breakfast I discovered that this was, in fact, the breakfast of many of the children in my classroom. I hope that the health revolution that we are experiencing in the United States travels as quickly as the Fast Food Nation has.

Listen to the Fresh Air NPR Interview here.