One Fifth Of World To Be Obese Within 10 Years

Policies to address rising levels of obesity must be put in place to avoid an epidemic over the next decade.

 

Around a fifth of the global population will be obese within the next ten years, according to a study.

Figures show that over the last 40 years the number of men and women in the world classed as obese has soared.


The average person has become 1.5kg (3.3 pounds) heavier every decade.
If the trend continues, 18% of men and 21% of women across the globe will be obese by 2025, experts believe.

More than 6% of men and 9% of women will be severely obese, meaning their health will be at risk.

Someone is classified as obese if their Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement that relates weight and height, is at least 30kg per square metre.

The new analysis of BMI, published in The Lancet medical journal, found that since the 1970s average BMI around the world increased from 21.7 to 24.2.

Anyone who has a BMI of 25 or over is considered "overweight".
In 2014, China had the largest number of obese people in the world - 43.2 million men and 46.4 million women.

The US was next and the UK was eighth for men, 6.8 million of whom were obese in 2014, and 11th for women, of which 7.7 million were obese.

The study also found that the UK had the third highest average BMI in Europe for women and the 10th highest for men.

The figure for men was behind that for the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and Malta, at 27.8 kg/m2.
Imperial College London's Professor Majid Ezzati, who led the study, said: "If present trends continue, not only will the world not meet the obesity target of halting the rise in the prevalence of obesity at its 2010 level by 2025, but more women will be severely obese than underweight by 2025.

"To avoid an epidemic of severe obesity, new policies that can slow down and stop the worldwide increase in body weight must be implemented quickly and rigorously evaluated, including smart food policies and improved health-care training."

Despite the trend, the authors pointed out, excessively low body weight remained a serious public health issue.

In southern Asia, almost a quarter of the population were still underweight, and in central and east Africa more than 15% of men and 12% of women weighed too little.

Sources: Sky.news.com