Overweight and unhealthy Belgians?

The results of a study show Belgians have the third unhealthiest eating habits in the world... It is not surprising in a country where waffles and chocolate are national prides, but one shouldn't see these results as a representation of what Belgium is globally (hopefully!). Let's see why.
 
A recent survey directed by Dr Fumiaki Imamura, from Cambridge University, and published in newspaper Lancet Global Health scrutinised eating habits of some 187 countries in the world between years 1990 and 2010. Sadly, Belgium appears to be the third country in the top which has the most unhealthiest eating habits in the world, according to this survey. It comes right after Armenia and Hungary, where the habits are apparently the worst ones, and are followed by Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Belarus and the rest of them, way ahead of the USA!... It is very strange for us to realise it, because we always picture Americans as being overweight with very relaxed views on what they eat.

Well, on the other hand, Belgium also has as national dishes chocolate, waffles, fries (including fries sandwiches!) and a number of sauces to go with it, and as national drink... beer of course! These are not examples of healthy eating habits, but most countries also have their own high-calorie meals (sausages, haggis, Leberkäse, kebab, etc.) and it didn't change their position in the top.

Although the country has the lowest proportion of McDonald's per inhabitant, Belgium has a lot of fast-food restaurants available... And that's because, well, we have our own fast-food chain, Quick, which has later been redeemed by a French company but is still the leader in Belgium. And in general, people have globally embraced unhealthy eating habits as part of their culture. Frituur/friture places, which are small houses or caravans that sell fries and some other greasy meals, have always been all over the country, although kebab restaurants tend to be in competition with them.

Comparatively, two other studies by the ISP (Belgian public health institute) suggested that Belgians didn't take enough care of their health. One stated that only 12% of the population claimed they ate five fruits and vegetables per day. Another one said the general Belgian BMI (Body Mass Index) was around 25.4, which is considered overweight! Ouch...

Yet, the Cambridge University's study also indicates that, in general, people in the world (including Belgians) tend to eat more fruits and vegetables, so that also healthy eating habits increase in parallel. It was not until a few years ago that organic food shops have popped up in different cities. Their disadvantage is the higher price, of course, but this business seems to be popular among a certain type of people. In my opinion, women, university students (interested in sustainable and ecological development) and richer families are more often into these things. The survey indeed pointed out that, in general, youngsters and men tend to eat less healthy.


Another trendy business these days consists in slow-food restaurants, i.e. restaurants that serve better quality burger and fries for a bit more money, and I have seen them in different Belgian cities (it isn't difficult to find one close to your location in Brussels for instance: Houtsiplout, Balmoral, Manhattn's, etc.).

Similarly, a recent Flemish Internet fad called Dagen Zonder Vlees consists in getting vegetarian for fourty days. It comes as a Facebook challenge, mirroring the centuries-long tradition of Lent fasting (occurring around the same period) in a non-religious way, just like one would get a stach for the whole of "Movember"!

All in all, Belgium has a tradition of calor(if)ic food eating and it is only slowly changing, but flourishing businesses like organic food shops or slow-food restaurants (as well as efforts made by politics to fight against unhealthy food at school) could also change the face of Belgians, and probably one day the cliché of Belgians being fat waffle eaters...