Diseases of Affluence - Causes

Causes

Factors associated with the increase of these conditions and illnesses appear to be, paradoxically, things which many people would regard as improvements in their lives. They include:

• Less strenuous physical exercise, often through increased use of motor vehicles
• Irregular exercise as a result of office jobs involving no physical labor.
• Easy accessibility in society to large amounts of low-cost food (relative to the much-lower caloric food availability in a subsistence economy)
  • More food generally, with much less physical exertion expended to obtain a moderate amount of food
  • More high fat and high sugar foods in the diet are common in the affluent developed economies of the late-twentieth century
  • Higher consumption of meat and dairy products
  • Higher consumption of refined flours and products made of such, like white bread or white noodles
  • More foods which are processed, cooked, and commercially provided (rather than seasonal, fresh foods prepared locally at time of eating)
• Prolonged periods of inactivity
• Greater use of alcohol and tobacco
• Longer life-spans
  • Reduced exposure to infectious agents throughout life