Around 60% of adults and a third of children worldwide are projected to be overweight or obese by 2050 if governments do not implement interventions, as indicated by a study published in the Lancet journal on Tuesday.
The study utilized information from 204 nations to outline a bleak outlook on what it identified as a major health crisis of the century.
The significant increase in the global overweight and obesity epidemic is seen as a major social failure, according to Emmanuela Gakidou, the lead author of a study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in the US. This surge has resulted in the number of overweight or obese individuals worldwide increasing from 929 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion in 2021.
Researchers predict that without a significant shift, around 3.8 billion individuals, comprising roughly 60% of the global adult population, will experience overweight or obesity within the next 15 years. About a quarter of the world’s obese population is expected to be over 65 years old.
Experts have also forecasted a 121% rise in childhood and adolescent obesity globally. By 2050, a third of obese youth will be concentrated in North Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
A greater level of political dedication is required to change diets in sustainable worldwide food systems and to back comprehensive approaches that enhance individuals’ nutrition, physical activity, and living conditions, according to Jessica Kerr of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia.
The study shows that over 50% of adults who are overweight or obese are concentrated in eight nations: Brazil, China, India, the USA, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia, and Egypt.
The information in the text came from data gathered by the IHME Global Impact of Diseases Study, which involves numerous researchers worldwide and is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.