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Higher levels of social and political globalization are significantly associated with an increased risk of overweight and obesity in women aged 15-49 in low- and middle-income countries, primarily through mechanisms of nutritional transition and reduced energy expenditure.

For policymakers in LMICs, focusing solely on trade liberalization (economic globalization) may not be enough to curb obesity. Strategies must address the social and political dimensions of globalization, such as urban planning, media influence, and food marketing, which drive the 'nutritional transition' towards higher calorie intake and lower physical activity.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
globalization as a whole is substantially and significantly associated with an increase in the individual propensity to be overweight among women. Surprisingly, political and social globalization dominate the influence of the economic dimension.
Yevgeniy Goryakin et al. · Social Science & Medicine · 2015

Why this rating

Large sample size (up to 887,000 women), robust econometric controls, and longitudinal data, though observational nature prevents causal proof.

Source

The impact of economic, political and social globalization on overweight and obesity in the 56 low and middle income countries

Yevgeniy Goryakin et al. · Social Science & Medicine · 2015

DOI 10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.03.030

cross_sectional · n=887409Cited 201×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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