A third of such people live in two regions: Mena and Latin America and the Caribbean, researchers warn.
Unless the government takes action, by 2050, almost 60% of all adults in the world and a third of all world adults will become overweight or obese by 2050, a new study says.
A study published in the Lancet Medical Journal on Tuesday used data from 204 countries to paint a tough picture of what is described as one of the great health challenges of the century.
“The unprecedented pandemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental social failure,” says Emmanuela Gakido, lead author of the US-based Institute for Health Measurement and Assessment (IHME).
The number of overweight or obese people worldwide has increased from 929 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion in 2021.
Without severe changes, researchers estimate that 3.8 billion adults will be overweight or obese in 15 years.
Researchers warn that the global health system will be subject to crippling pressure, and by then about a quarter of the world’s obesity will be over 65 years old.
They also predicted a 121% increase in obesity in children and adolescents around the world.
A third of all obese youth live in two regions, including the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin America and the Caribbean.
But Jessica Kerr, co-author of Australia’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, is never too late to act. “Transforming diets within a sustainable global food system requires a much stronger political commitment,” she said.
That commitment was also necessary for the strategy of “improving people’s nutrition, physical activity and living environment.”
The survey shows that over half of the world’s overweight or obese adults already live in just eight countries: China, India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Egypt.
Poor diet and sedentary lifestyle are clearly driving the obesity epidemic, says Thorkild Sorensen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen who is not involved in the study.
For example, socially deprived groups have a “consistent and inexplicable tendency” towards obesity, he said in a linked comment in the Lancet.
Another study published Monday, the World Obesity Federation’s World Obesity Atlas, also raised the issue.
“The areas that are most affected are developing countries,” said federal President Simon Barkera.
Obese Atlas suggests that by 2035 79% of obese and overweight children and 88% of obese and overweight children live in low- and middle-income countries, with only 7% of nationally equipped with appropriate healthcare systems to address this
“It’s really one of the major public health challenges around the world,” added Barquera.
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