More Than Half of the World Will Be Obese By 2035, Report Says

Obesity has often been thought of as a problem of the developed world, with wealthy countries eating themselves into a state of ill-health with an abundance of ultraprocessed foods, and poorer ones more often suffering from food insecurity. But that’s no longer true. According to a March report from the World Obesity Atlas (WOA), more than half of the global population—51%, or over 4 billion people—will have obesity by 2035, and the condition will touch all regions and continents of the world. The total cost of treating illnesses related to obesity will be an estimated $4 trillion per year, which is about how much the COVID-19 pandemic cost the world in health care expenses in 2020. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The new projection marks a sharp jump from current 2023 numbers. Right now, about 3.12 billion people (39% of the global population) have obesity. But 15 years ago, in 2008, the global obesity rate was 23.9%, affecting 1.63 billion people. The WOA, a non-governmental organization which files its reports with both the World Health Organization and the U.N., surveyed current obesity rates and trends in 180 different countries to arrive at its newly projected figures. The nations with the highest obesity rates tend to cluster in the South Pacific, with Kiribati and Tonga leading the world in projected 2035 obesity rates at 67%, followed by Samoa at 66%, French Polynesia at 65%, and Micronesia at 64%. The U.S. registers near the top, with...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Diet & Nutrition healthscienceclimate Source Type: news