Global Trend Blog

Hello all,

Welcome to my blog! 

After taking the Global Trend quiz, I was definitely surprised by how many questions I got incorrect. A few that stood out to me had to be one’s regarding predictions about the world’s population by 2050. It is assumed that by 2050, there will be approximately 12.8 billion people on this planet if fertility rates continue to increase as they are today. This came as a total shock due to studies essentially showing a correlation between educated women and fertility rates seeming to decrease. It is said that females who are educated are choosing to either not have children at all or opting out for smaller families. Therefore, I would assume that by 2050, we would either see a slight decline in population or an increase in population by no more than 1-2 billion people.

Another question that stood out to me was the one regarding how many people in this world are chronically undernourished. There is an estimate of 826 million people who do not have the accessibility to healthy foods to live an active life. Reading this devastated me. Approximately 34-35 million of the 826 million live in a developed country, including the United States. Leaving over 700 million undernourished people living in developing countries. It’s something I essentially couldn’t wrap my head around, due to the fact that there’s so much wealth in this world and yet we still have millions of people living in poverty and are practically dying of hunger.

I find that the biggest health challenge women face globally would have to be the struggle women face with their mental health. With more than 264 million affected by depression, 76%-85% of the 264 million people are currently living in low income countries. Therefore, there are barriers to effective care including a lack of resources and stigmas regarding mental health.

One health belief about women I would like to change would have to be removing the stigma about mental illness. I find that the best way to remove the stigma is by understanding what it is and what it is not. Being an advocate. And be willing to start conversations about self-stigma.