A new study in The Lancet warns: by 2022, one billion people worldwide would be obese. That is a doubling since 1990, and even a quadrupling in children and teenagers.
In response to the study the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that 43 percent of all adults weigh too much. The increase in obesity among children also requires our urgent attention, the organization says.
Lead researcher Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London calls it “very worrying that the obesity pandemic we saw in adults in 1990 is now also being reflected in children and teenagers.”
We speak of obesity with a BMI (Body Mass Index) of 30 or more. The BMI expresses the ratio between your weight and your height.
More obesity worldwide
The report shows that obesity is most common among residents of islands such as Polynesia, Micronesia and the Cook Islands. More than six in ten adults and three in ten children and teenagers are obese.
In the United States, nearly 44 percent of adult women and 41 percent of men are obese, more than doubling since 1990. The number of obese children and teenagers has also nearly doubled, to 20 percent.
In countries such as China and India, the figures are still much lower, although they have also increased there. In China, four times more women are now obese than three decades ago, and eleven times more men.
Interventions
“This new study highlights the importance of preventing and controlling obesity from an early age through diet, exercise and adequate care,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, commenting on the study.
‘To reduce obesity worldwide, governments and communities must act, supported by evidence-based policies. But the cooperation of the private sector is also absolutely required. They must take responsibility for the health effects of their products.’
Key interventions recommended by WHO in the fight against global obesity include: promotion of breastfeeding, stricter regulations on harmful food and beverage advertising to children; healthy food at school, prizes that promote healthy eating and better education and awareness campaigns for healthy eating and physical activity.
2024-03-02 02:41:14
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