An “epidemic” of overweight and obesity is raging in Europe, worries the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday in a new report.
“Rates of overweight and obesity have reached epidemic proportions across the region and continue to rise,” lamented in a statement the European branch of the organization which brings together 53 states.
In Europe, almost a quarter of adults are now obese, making the prevalence of obesity higher than in any other region except the Americas, according to the WHO. No country in the region can currently claim to stop the progress and scale of the problem.
Overweight and obesity are thus the cause of more than 1.2 million deaths per year, representing more than 13% of deaths in the region, according to the study. Obesity is the cause of at least 13 different types of cancer and is likely to be directly responsible for at least 200,000 new cases of cancer per year, according to the WHO.
The pandemic as an indicator
“This figure is expected to increase further in the years to come,” warned the organization. The latest comprehensive data available, which dates back to 2016, shows that 59% of adults and almost one in three children (29% of boys and 27% of girls) are overweight on the Old Continent.
In 1975, barely 40% of European adults were overweight. The prevalence of obesity in adults has soared 138% since then, with an increase of 21% between 2006 and 2016.
The Covid-19 pandemic has made it possible to measure the impact of the overweight epidemic in the region. The restrictions (closing of schools, confinement) have at the same time “led to an increase in exposure to certain risk factors which influence the likelihood that a person will suffer from obesity or overweight”, underlined the director of WHO Europe. , Hans Kluge.
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