Supermarkets stock fresh fruit and vegetables in the middle of winter. Meats and canned and processed goods of all sorts line the aisles.
Food is abundant and readily available in most industrialized countries.
As a result, the general feeling is that whatever problems industrialized countries may have, malnutrition is surely not one of them. Yet, readily available and sufficient food does not automatically bring about good nutrition. On the contrary, obesity is one major nutrition-related problem in the United States. According to the most recent government statistics, over half the American population today is obese, and of children between the ages of 6 and 17, nearly one fourth are obese. Obesity carries with it increased general health risks, including a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, non-insulin dependent diabetes, certain kinds of cancer, gall bladder disease, menstrual abnormalities and complications of arthritis and gout.