Newswise — As the standard of living improves for Latin Americans, they are beginning to face a health problem generally associated with more affluent nations - obesity. So says William Hart, Ph.D., MPH, R.D., associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University School of Allied Health Professions.
Dr. Hart is among a panel of scientists who will talk about the growing problem of obesity at the Universidad Iberoamericana, a Jesuit university in Mexico City, on Monday, Sept. 29.
"As the economy gets better, people are adding more variety, including fruits and vegetables, to what had been their staple diet of refried beans, corn tortillas and flour tortillas," Dr. Hart says. "At the same time, they're spending less energy in intense manual labor, and are starting to become obese."
So while poorer residents of Latin America are starting to eat better, they're exercising less.
"It's an affluence problem. It's what we have here," Dr. Hart says.
Long a leader in health professions education, Saint Louis University began its first allied health baccalaureate degree program in 1929. Today the Edward and Margaret Doisy School of Allied Health Professions offers degrees in clinical laboratory sciences, health information management, nuclear medicine technology, nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy, physical therapy and a physician assistant program.
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