14 DAY TRIAL // A new paper published in the journal The Lancet this past May 28 says that, in 2013, the world was home to about 2.1 billion overweight and obese individuals.
By comparison, the number of obese and overweight people documented on a global scale back in 1980 was one of just 857 million, researchers say.
Even more worrying, it appears that, although obesity and overweight rates in both adults and children have increased to a considerable extent in recent years, it is kids that have it worse.
Thus, estimates say that, whereas obesity and overweight rates in adult individuals have increased by 28% since 1980 until present days, those recorded in children have upped by an impressive 47%.
“Unlike other major global health risks, such as tobacco and childhood nutrition, obesity is not decreasing worldwide,” Professor Emmanuela Gakidou comments on these findings in a statement, as cited by Alpha Galileo Foundation.
“Our findings show that increases in the prevalence of obesity have been substantial, widespread, and have arisen over a short time,” the University of Washington in the United States researcher adds.
Overweight and obesity rates might have upped on a global scale, but there are notable differences between various regions. Specifically, it appears that just 10 countries now hold over 50% of the world's obese population, i.e 671 million individuals.
As detailed in the paper in the journal The Lancet, these countries are as follows: the United States (over 13%), China and India (15% when taken together), Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, and Indonesia.
Not at all surprisingly, the specialists who conducted this investigation into global obesity and overweight rates say that adult obesity is first and foremost a problem in high-income countries.
Thus, it is estimated that, for the time being, about a third of the people living in the United States qualify as obese. In Australia and in the United Kingdom, on the other hand, the percentage revolves around 25% and 30%, respectively.
Still, evidence indicates that, whereas men in the developed world have higher obesity rates than women, it is women who are more likely to be obese in the developing world.
“Unlike other major global health risks, such as tobacco and childhood nutrition, obesity is not decreasing worldwide,” Professor Emmanuela Gakidou tells the press in a recent interview.
Furthermore, “Our analysis suggests that the UN’s target to stop the rise in obesity by 2025 is very ambitious and is unlikely to be achieved without concerted action and further research to assess the effect of population-wide interventions, and how to effectively translate that knowledge into national obesity control programs.”