Worldwide Obesity Cases 'Exploding:' More Than 1 Billion People Have Chronic Health Condition

A new study found that one in every eight people around the world, which equates to more than 1 billion individuals, qualify as obese.

Researchers from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, a global network of health scientists, noted that as of 2022, the number, which is about 43% of adults have been living with obesity worldwide,

Worldwide Obesity Rates

The statistics represent a doubling of the number of obese adults since 1990. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a press release where it noted that among children between ages five and 19, the obesity rate has quadrupled.

The researchers involved in the latest study, which was published in The Lancer on Feb. 29, analyzed data from 3,663 population-based studies with 222 million participants. They used different body mass index (DMI) measurements for adults, children, and teens.

The data collected between 1990 and 2022 across 200 countries and territories showed that the United States ranked 36th for obesity.

In the press release, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the new study highlights the importance of preventing and managing obesity from early life to adulthood through diet, physical activity, and adequate care, per the New York Post.

He added that getting back on track to meet the global targets for curbing obesity will require a lot of work from governments and communities worldwide. Ghebreyesus noted that this has to be supported by evidence-based policies from the WHO and national public health agencies.

The WHO chief said that, more importantly, it also requires the cooperation of the private sector, which he noted must be accountable for the health impacts of their products. A clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, Dr. Marc Siegel, said that the world is currently in "big trouble" in terms of undernutrition and obesity.

He added that undernutrition is considered to be a public health challenge in many places, including Asia and Africa. Siegel, who was not involved in the latest study, said there is too much processed food with chemicals that produce weight gain.

Addressing the Chronic Health Condition

Obesity has become so prevalent around the world that it has become more common than being underweight in many nations. These include many low- and middle-income countries that have previously struggled with undernourishment, according to Reuters.

A senior author of the recent study, Majid Ezzati, said that a staggering number of people are living with obesity right now. He noted that while obesity rates are plateauing in many rich countries, the numbers are still on the rise in many others.

The head of nutrition at the WHO, Francesco Branca, said during a press conference that in the past, people have been thinking of obesity as a problem of the rich. However, he argued that it has become a problem in the world.

The study comes as, in Singapore, obesity rates are also on the rise, especially among children and teens. Officials reported that from 2019 to 2020, 10.5% of the Asian nation's residents aged 18 to 74 were qualified as obese, said Channel News Asia.