Particularly harmful are smoking and fatty diets, which are often emulated in other countries looking to the United States as a role model.

As a result of people following such unhealthy trends, deaths from cancer are expected to double in many poor countries in the next 25 years. The report predicts that in 2020 some 15 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed worldwide, with many of those in poor countries already burdened with killer diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis.

Diabetes, another disease often linked with diet and lifestyle, is expected to increase from its current 135 million cases to 300 million by 2025, according to the report.

While many poorer nations are gaining the upper hand in overcoming the effects of malnutrition and infections, they face the grim prospect of chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer, common killers in more-developed nations. (Source: Knight-Ridder News Service.)