Half of world will be obese by 2035, health organisation predicts

Evan Rosen, Mar 04 2023
STUFF

New Zealand has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in the world but new research has shown it's going down - if only by a small fraction. 

Half the world will be overweight by 2035, a health group warns.

The World Obesity Federation predicts over 4 billion people will be obese if preventive measures are not implemented, BBC News reported Thursday.

The findings show that overweight rates are rising fastest among kids, and that low to middle-income countries in Africa and Asia will undergo the starkest changes.

Those countries, the report explains, have dietary preferences which trend towards more highly-processed foods, in addition to increased levels of sedentary behaviour, weaker policies on food supply and marketing.

Healthcare services are lacking, too.

“Governments and policymakers around the world need to do all they can to avoid passing health, social and economic costs on to the younger generation,” said Professor Louise Baur, president of the World Obesity Federation.

KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AP

The World Obesity Federation predicts over 4 billion people will be obese if preventive measures are not implemented.

The rises in obesity rates across the globe is also projected to cost roughly US$4 trillion per year by 2035.

The report also acknowledges that the economic impact of obesity “is in no way a reflection of blame on people living with obesity”.

The data published in the report will be presented to the United Nations next week.

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