A new study reveals that the milestone of one billion people suffering from obesity in the world has been crossed. The progress has been dazzling over the last thirty years.
March 4 will mark World Obesity Day, a problem that has increased significantly over the past thirty years. In fact, it now concerns more than a billion people around the world. Thus, one in eight inhabitants would be affected, according to a recent study published in the journal The Lancet, carried out in collaboration with the World Health Organization and based on data from around 220 million people in 190 countries. The evolution of obesity has been faster than expected: according to one of the main authors of the study, Professor Majid Ezzati, the billion threshold was initially expected for 2030.
More precisely, the obesity rate quadrupled among children and doubled among adults between 1990 and 2022: 879 million adults and 159 million children in 2022 compared to 195 million and 31 million respectively in 1990. It also tripled among men, rising from 4.8% to 14%, while among women, the rate has jumped from 8.8% to 18.5% over the last thirty years.
As obesity causes an increase in mortality linked to other diseases such as diabetes or cancer, the WHO is sounding the alarm. According to the organization, malnutrition is constantly increasing with a certain lack of actions to limit this phenomenon. She gave examples of possible solutions that would not be applied enough: the tax on sugary drinks, the subsidizing of healthier foods or even limiting the marketing of unhealthy foods, particularly aimed at children. According to the organization, the problem of obesity has become epidemic for several years.
France on the other hand
The obesity rate has particularly increased in low-income regions of the world such as Polynesia (60% of obese adults), the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa. These regions now have obesity rates higher than those of most industrialized countries, particularly in Europe. “In the past we tended to consider obesity as a problem of rich countries, now it is a global problem”, analyzed the director of the department of nutrition and food safety of the WHO Francesco Branca, during a press conference.
Nevertheless, thehe United States is still one of the most affected countries with a number of people suffering from obesity which has doubled in thirty years: 21% to 43% for women.s and 16% to 41% among men. Conversely, according to Majid Ezzati, France is one of the countries where “signs of decline” are observed. 17% of French adults are obese as are 4% of children and adolescents, rather low rates compared to other countries.