An Ruopeng, Shen Jing, Bullard Tiffany, Han Yu, Qiu Dingyi, Wang Shiman
School of Management and Journalism, Shenyang Sport University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China.
Brown School, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Obes Rev. 2020 Mar;21(3):e12969. doi: 10.1111/obr.12969. Epub 2019 Nov 13.
This study reviewed evidence linking economic globalization to the obesity epidemic. Keyword/reference search was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, EconLit, Google Scholar, and BMC Globalization and Health. A total of 16 studies were identified, in which six adopted a cross-sectional study design, nine adopted a longitudinal study design, and the remaining one adopted a case-control study design. Thirteen studies assessed the relationship between economic globalization and obesity at the country level, whereas the remaining three analyzed individual-level data. Fourteen studies found at least one aspect and/or measure of economic globalization to be positively associated with overweight/obesity, one found an inverse association, and the remaining one reported a null finding. Through market deregulation, tariff reduction, and investment liberalization, economic globalization tends to accelerate the market entry of modern food manufacturers, supermarket chains, and fast-food restaurants, resulting in substantially increased supply of high-sugar/fat energy-dense foods with enhanced variety and accessibility and reduced price. The potential impact of economic globalization on obesity through the adoption of modern workplace and domestic technologies and motorized transportation and through changes in social norms and culture were hypothesized in the literature but not empirically examined, which warrants future data-driven research.
本研究回顾了将经济全球化与肥胖流行联系起来的证据。在PubMed、科学网、考克兰图书馆、Scopus、EconLit、谷歌学术以及《BMC全球化与健康》中进行了关键词/参考文献检索。共识别出16项研究，其中6项采用横断面研究设计，9项采用纵向研究设计，其余1项采用病例对照研究设计。13项研究在国家层面评估了经济全球化与肥胖之间的关系，而其余3项分析了个体层面的数据。14项研究发现经济全球化的至少一个方面和/或指标与超重/肥胖呈正相关，1项发现呈负相关，其余1项报告无显著结果。通过市场放松管制、降低关税和投资自由化，经济全球化往往会加速现代食品制造商、连锁超市和快餐店进入市场，导致高糖/高脂肪能量密集型食品的供应大幅增加，种类增多，购买更便捷，价格降低。文献中假设了经济全球化通过采用现代工作场所和家庭技术、机动化交通以及社会规范和文化的变化对肥胖产生的潜在影响，但未进行实证检验，这值得未来开展数据驱动的研究。
