Overweight and obese adults and children are becoming more too frequent a sight all over the world. According to the World Health Organization, the number of obese adults world-wide reached 600 million in 2014, with another 2 billion adults being overweight. Obesity is a precursor to numerous detrimental health conditions including but not limited to diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The IDF diabetes atlas reports that globally, the number of diabetes cases has risen to 374 million people in 2014, with diet being a major contributor to the disease.

Bruce Levenson asked nutrition experts what is causing such a surge in obesity and diabetes around the globe? According to David Tilman, who teaches Ecology at the University of Minnesota, it is due to a “nutrition transition occurring around the world,” in which diet trends are the contributing factor. With more than half the people in the world now choosing to live in cities, a lack of exercise and poor “Western” diet choices are damaging our population’s health.

Malnourishment has taken on a whole other definition with the urbanization of the world and consumption of processed foods. Tilman attributes this to the idea that “We have a whole new group of people who are malnourished because they eat foods that are no good for them, that have no nutritional benefit.”

Diet is an important factor in overall health of a person. A poor diet leaves the body susceptible to many illnesses and disease. Enjoying foods that not only taste good, but which are good for you is easier than you may think once you just discover some tricks.