ABSTRACT
Over the last three centuries, changes in dietary patterns and physical activity have accelerated in varying degrees in different regions of the world (Popkin 2006). Modernization, urbanization, economic development, and the rise of income level lead to predictable shifts in diet and activity patterns, referred to as nutrition transitions (The Nutrition Transition, https://www.hsph.harvard .edu/obesity-prevention-source/nutrition-transition/#references). These nutrition transitions, which include structural and composition shifts in diet and activity patterns, are reflected in nutritional outcomes, such as changes in body composition, and health outcomes, such as increases in obesity and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). In addition, the dietary and activity pattern changes parallel demographic and socioeconomic changes; various cultural and knowledge factors; disease patterns; and sociologic considerations (for example, the role of women and family structure) (Popkin 2006).
