Brazil? Obesity? Everyone is probably asking, "Is it possible for Brazil to have obese people?" From the country where super models and the skimpy bikinis come from, Brazil would be one of the last expected places for obesity to occur.

When one thinks of Brazilian people they would think of all the models that have come out of that country. It would be hard to guess that over forty percent of Brazil is overweight. In fact 10 million Brazilians are obese, compared to the 4 million who are deemed to be undernourished. Obesity in Brazil is mainly caused the country’s sweet tooth. This makes sense because the country has the largest sugar production. Brazilians are constantly putting sugar on and in everything. They put sugar on fruit such as pineapple or papaya, in coffee, and just about anything. The Brazil and United States are the two countries with the highest intake of sugar. Nineteen percent of the calories a person in Brazil intakes, a day, are from sugar. Soda is another source of calories. In the last 30 years the intake of soda has grown 400 percent. This is another reason why the obesity rate in Brazil is growing so fast.

Since 1940 to 2000, 80 percent of the population lives in an urban area. Before it was 20 percent of people lived in an urban area. This has caused decrees in physical activity, because people are taking cars, and buses to get around. And they are not doing as much physical labor.