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When I came to the Philippines I was shocked by the large number of obese people here. I thought it would be like China because that was my only reference point
by wyclif 6y ago
When I came to the Philippines I was shocked by the large number of obese people here. I thought it would be like China because that was my only reference point in SE Asia. Relatively speaking, it's not as bad as the States or the UK but it's getting there. If you look back only a few generations, you'll see what happened here: they were colonized by the US and adopted Western-style processed food and soft drinks. Also, car ownership is a new thing for most families. Before WW2 this was not the case, and thus there was far less obesity.
- chestertn 6y agoWestern style != American style. Philippines was part of the Spanish crown and had Spanish customs. Plenty of European (Western) countries have balanced diets and healthy lifestyles.
- Talanes 6y agoThey were under American rule more recently, and were only given their Independence without a fight after agreeing to preferential trade on importing American products.
- chestertn 6y agoI didn't argue about that. I just said that before American rule they were ruled by Spaniards.
- wyclif 6y agoSure, for you and I it's not equivalent. But for them, it might as well be. People simply did not eat large amounts of packaged, processed food only a few generations ago, like people do everywhere in the west, including the EU.
- chestertn 6y agoI just complained about the use of "western diet" as a catch-all epithet for unhealthy, processed food.