Much has been discussed about the need to combat obesity, but a new study paints and even more alarming picture. More than 2bn adults and children globally are overweight or obese and suffer health problems because of their weight, it has been revealed.
This equates to one-third of the world’s population carrying excess weight, fuelled by urbanisation, poor diets and reduced physical activity. The US has the greatest percentage of obese children and young adults, at 13%, while Egypt led in terms of adult obesity, with almost 35%, among the 195 countries and territories included in the study, published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
While 2.2bn people were obese or overweight in 2015, more than 710mn of them were classed as obese, with 5% of all children and 12% of adults fitting into this category. An increasing number globally are dying from health problems linked to being overweight, such as cardiovascular disease, said the study. Almost 40% of the 4mn dying as a result of their higher body mass index were not yet obese, highlighting that deaths are occurring almost as often in those considered overweight as those considered obese.
Body mass index is the ratio between a person’s weight and height; a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, while anything over 30 is obese. People who shrug off weight gain do so at their own risk – risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions, according to Dr Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, who worked on the study.
The researchers analysed data from 68.5mn people between 1980 and 2015 to explore trends as well as figures regarding overweight and obesity rates. Data were obtained from the most recent Global Burden of Disease study, which explores all major diseases, conditions and injuries globally by age, sex and population.
The data revealed that the number of people affected by obesity has doubled since 1980 in 73 countries, and continued to rise across most other countries included in the analysis. Obesity levels were higher among women than men across all age groups, which correlates with previous findings on obesity.
In terms of numbers, the large population sizes of China and India meant they had the highest numbers of obese children, with 15.3mn and 14.4mn, respectively. Despite a smaller population, the US had the greatest number of obese adults, with 79.4mn (35% of the population), followed by China with 57.3mn. The lowest obesity rates were seen in Bangladesh and Vietnam, at 1%. In addition to highlighting the scale of the global obesity epidemic, the researchers hope to raise awareness of the diseases linked to being overweight that can prove fatal. Almost 70% of deaths related to an elevated BMI in the analysis were due to cardiovascular disease, killing 2.7mn people in 2015, with diabetes being the second leading cause of death.
It was reported in March this year that as many as 70% of the participants of the Qatar Biobank were diagnosed obese. This was based on a study of 6,475 participants, including almost 80% (5,136) Qataris. It said Qatar as a nation has some of the highest levels of metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes mellitus within the region. Urgent action is needed.
