Fast food, oversized portions and one too many calories are damaging more than just the world’s waistline – it’s quickly making obesity a global epidemic.

According to the Center for Disease Control, obesity increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and stroke.

Sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology and the College of Education, “The World is Fat: The Fads, Trends, Policies and Products that are Fattening the Human Race,” tackles the topic of obesity from a global perspective.

Given by Dr. Barry M. Popkin, a Carla Smith Chamblee Distinguished Professor of Global Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, today’s event is the third and final Ramsey Lecture for the semester.

“I hope that Dr. Popkin will provide a global perspective on how shifts and changes in diet and physical activity over time have contributed to the rise in obesity worldwide,” said Kirk Cureton, professor and head of the department of kinesiology.

Popkin directs the University of North Carolina’s Interdisciplinary Center for Obesity and has been studying changes in nutrition and physical activity patterns.

“Dr. Popkin is a well-known expert in obesity,” said Cureton. “His work provides a global perspective for the cause of the obesity epidemic.”

Popkin’s lecture will discuss the fundamental clash between environmental changes in diet and nutrition practices and biology.

Cureton said that Popkin was selected because he “provides a broad perspective on the development of obesity as a major health problem.”

Cureton encourages “anyone interested in diet, physical activity and public health” to attend.