Health advocates show their bellies with the words ‘‘Avoid a New Year’s paunch’’ painted on them. Thailand’s growing economy has given rise to increasing rates of child obesity and other health problems as people consume more fatty and salty fast foods
Last
week, when I first saw the BBC news headline, "Population and
consumption key to future, report says," I thought, "Here
we go again." And it has panned out just the way I thought it
would.
For
those who might have missed it, the headline refers to the report
just released by the Royal Society as a contribution to the
preparation of the United Nations Conference for Sustainable
Development (RIO+20) to be convened in Rio de Janeiro next month. And
when I took the first break from reading the report, entitled "People
and Planet", freshly downloaded, I Googled the subject to see
what others might have said about it. As I had expected, the
fireworks had started and, with so many critics voicing their views,
it was difficult to choose what to read.
Clearly,
the issues relating to the number of people that can be sustained by
resources of the planet remain searingly hot even over 200 years
after Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus first published "An Essay
on the Principle of Population" in 1798. I suspect that the
controversies about what the Royal Society says in that report will
continue to rage on well after the RIO+20 ends and this UN summit
will be no different from most UN summits _ lots of talk and
posturing will be aired but few, if any, substantive actions will
follow.
Many
critics say the report is poorly written and contains numerous
inconsistencies as well as factual and logical errors. From there,
blistering attacks on its contents and recommendations are launched.
And as it has always been, this case is no different from that of the
flat earth society _ no matter what evidence and arguments are
brought forth, there will be people who continue to believe the
contrary that the world can support any number of humans which,
unless something truly catastrophic happens in the next few decades,
may very well exceed the peak of 10 billion people the UN has
projected. This is because new technologies will allow people to live
increasingly longer and childless couples, single women and women who
marry women to produce offspring with the services of sperm banks
that are reported to be doing brisk business even in the present
economic doldrums, according to Time magazine.
Although
Thais are reported to be customers of those sperm banks, all trends
indicate that Thailand's population will soon peak. When it comes to
the need to limit their numbers, the Thais are much more willing to
adjust their view than those who believe that the planet is flat and
capable of supporting any size of population.
To
read more:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/291373/healthy-gdp-does-not-mean-healthy-people
By Sawai Boonma has worked as a development economist for more than two decades.
By Sawai Boonma has worked as a development economist for more than two decades.
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