Overeating is ‘personal destruction’: Pope

The pope yesterday contrasted the world’s 820 million hungry people with those who turn food into “an avenue of personal destruction” through overeating, in comments to mark World Food Day. Pope Francis noted that the “distorted relationship between food and nutrition” has left almost 700 million people overweight, “victims of improper dietary habits”. “We are in fact witnessing how food is ceasing to be a means of subsistence and turning into an avenue of personal destruction,” the pontiff said. He called for “the cultivation of lifestyles inspired by gratitude for the gifts we have received and the adoption of a spirit of temperance (and) moderation.”