The World Is Getting Fatter

I've been surprised by the number of heavy people I've seen since we arrived in Colombia. I'm used to it in the USA, England (where we visit semi-regularly, because Barry's family lives there) and Mexico (which has one of the highest diabetes rates in the world), but I did not expect it here. But many many folks we see, both Colombians and tourists, are overweight. As the book title says, "the world is getting fatter."

I was especially surprised a couple of weeks ago, when we met two Swedish women in their twenties. The Swedes I've met during my traveling career seemed to always come with lithe, fashion-magazine bodies. In my mind, it was part of the Swede "package." But these two (though they had the blonde hair, true to the package) were as pudgy as everyone else.

Last night an Argentine family arrived at our hotel. Both the parents and the husband's cousins were heavy.

Like Mexicxo, Colombia excels in fried street food. I haven't sampled much of it because most of it is meat-based. But it sure looks delectable in that fatty, greasy (yum!) way. But Mexica and I assume, Colombia has always offered fried food from street vewndors, so just the existence of it doesn't make the case for greater obesity. In Mexico, the growing overweight of the population is much discussed in the media, and in fact, Mexico City has just embarked on a bicycle-rental program. I have not seen any such concern in the press here.

At least it's not just a problem in the States.