Hungry Planet - Great Britain

An average British family, the Baintons, living in Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire, Great Britain, and their one week worth of food (from the book Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio).

Their PICTURE is here.

Here are the surprising proportions (8.2 kg per person, per week):

• 28% starches (a lot of white stuff: bread, flour, pasta, corn flakes, crackers, etc.)
• 18% sweet foods (sugar, biscuit, chocolate, candy, etc.)
•   5% dairy (cheese, butter)
•   9% meat, fish, eggs
• 14% fruits (apples, bananas, etc.)
• 26% vegetables (beans, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, cucumber, etc.)

Beverages (6.8 litres per person, per day):

• 56% milk (most of it semi-skim milk)
• 44% juices and alcohol (no soft drink is consumed)

With these proportions, I would like to point out the sugar content of a certain diet. In this case, it is relatively high (18% sweet foods). It is also important that most of the starches are in processed (white) form, which elevates insulin levels, leading to obesity over the years.

I do not have any information about the health issues of this family. I only know, from the book, that they like sweet foods and try to cut down on fat by buying low-fat products, which will not lead to low insulin levels.

The alarming fact is that obesity in Great Britain is of epidemic proportions:

• Overweight population: 63% male, 59% female.
• Obese population: 19% male, 21% female.
• Population age 20 and older with diabetes: 3.9%.

If many families have their sugar intake as high as this family, then it is not a surprise if the number of overweight people is higher than the number of normal weight population.