Without considerable action, a new analysis predicts that by 2035, over 50 percent of the world’s population may be obese or at least overweight.
As per the 2023 atlas published by World Obesity more than 4 billion people, or 51% of the population, to be exact, will be in this weight category in 12 years.
According to the study, rates of obesity are growing particularly swiftly among youngsters and in nations with lesser incomes.
President of the World Obesity Federation Louise Baur called the findings a “clear warning” and stated that in order to stop the problem from getting worse, officials needed to take immediate action.
In an official statement, Baur said that “It’s particularly concerning to see obesity rates rising the fastest among kids and teens. Governments and policy makers from all around the world need to do all that they can to avoid passing health, social and economic costs on to the younger generation.”
By 2035, there may be 208 million young boys and 175 million young girls who are obese, more than double the number estimated in 2020.
The authors emphasized that they were not condemning specific people but rather urging attention to the cultural, environmental, and biological elements that contributed to the situation instead.
The BMI (body mass index), which can be determined by dividing one’s weight in kilograms by their height in square meters, is used by the report to make its assessments. According to World Health Organization recommendations, a BMI of over 25 indicates overweight, while a BMI of over 30 indicates obesity.
These groups included 2.6 billion individuals in 2020, or 38 percent of the global population.
The study also discovered that low – or middle-income nations in Asia and Africa are nearly universally predicted to have the biggest rises in obesity rates in the upcoming years.
The information will be provided to member nations and decision-makers of the UN.
