Europe will be facing an obesity epidemic in 15 years, according to a recent study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Ireland will see the greatest number of obese men and women among European nations in the study, with 89 percent of Irish men and 85 percent of Irish women becoming overweight by 2030.
In the U.K., 74 percent of men and 64 percent of women will be obese, while in Greece, the proportion of obese men and women will be 44 percent and 40 percent, respectively.
The Czech Republic, Austria, Spain and Sweden are also included in the list of countries that are projected to have a high prevalence of obesity. According to health experts, the obesity crisis will not reach a plateau but will continue to rise.
These projections are based on WHO's Modelling Obesity Project, the results of which were disclosed at the 22nd European Congress on Obesity.
"Although this was a forecasting exercise, and therefore data needs to be taken with extreme caution, it conveys two strong messages - first that the availability and quality of the data in countries needs to be improved and second that these predictions show more needs to be done in terms of preventing and tackling obesity," said João Breda, a representative from the WHO's Copenhagen regional office, The Guardian reports.
Sweden, which normally has a low prevalence of obesity, will likewise experience a rise in the number of obese men and women by 2030, with 26 percent of men and 22 percent of women becoming obese.
However, it's a different story for the Netherlands, where obesity rates will fall for men and women from 10 percent to 8 percent and 13 percent to 9 percent, respectively.
U.K. Health Forum's Dr. Laura Webber, who was among the lead researchers of the study, urged governments to take necessary measures so that healthy food will be more available.
"Our study presents a worrying picture of rising obesity across Europe," Webber said to Sky News reports. "Policies to reveal this trend are urgently needed."
