Globalisation and Children's Diets: The Case of the Maya of Mexico and Central America

Globalisation has resulted in powerful multinational corporations imposing their products as we are urged to consume industrially grown, processed and packaged foods. This brings about nutritional transitions, the most common being a shift from a locally-grown diet with minimally refined foods, to the modern diet of highly processed foods, high in saturated fat, animal products and sugar, and low in fibre. Maya health and culture has deteriorated as a result with highly processed foods affecting physical growth and health of Maya children and their families.