One Western habit Asia can do without: its fatty, sugary diet

In an age when Asia can more than hold its own economically, no one can argue that the spirit of the times is such that Asia should simply seek to mimic the West, especially the United States, in its dietary practices. Certainly not when the price to be paid is massive obesity.

To be sure, the image of Indians and Chinese fattening themselves up is not a case of Western culinary imperialism. This statement holds, even though the sales tactics of the McDonald's and Coca-Cola's of this world certainly play a part in Asia's worsening obesity problem.

But at a time when educated Westerners have come around to seeing the wisdom of India's vegetarian path to nutritional enlightenment, it is sad to see that the world's two most populous nations are moving in the opposite direction.

The quest of China and India in this regard is not one of demanding equal rights in terms of caloric consumption. The argument for restraint is also not a matter of denying them a meaty future for environmental reasons. It is a call for Asia to remember some of its best traditions. A healthy diet is something to be proud of and hold on to.

Anybody who argues that it is a matter of global fairness for a billion Chinese and a billion Indians to now gorge themselves on factory-produced pork, poultry and beef is really delivering an argument for self-mutilation on a massive scale - leaving aside the climatic and planetary consequences of such a shift.

In the West, what was considered a sign of wealth - overloaded food tables - is now a sign of a breathless lifestyle, little to do with quality of life.