Global Crisis: Obesity Affects Over a Billion People Worldwide

A recent study carried out by the Lancet medical journal has uncovered a startling revelation: over one billion people worldwide are currently grappling with obesity. This figure has more than quadrupled since 1990, signaling a troubling trend that is escalating at a faster rate among children and adolescents than among adults.

In collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the study estimated that the total number of obese individuals, comprising adults, adolescents, and children, has surged from 226 million in 1990 to a staggering 1,038 million in 2022. Francesco Branca, the director of nutrition for health at the WHO, noted that the rise to over one billion people has occurred “much earlier than we have anticipated”.

Researchers point out that the obesity rate has nearly tripled for men and more than doubled for women since 1990. The number of obese children and adolescents has also dramatically increased, reaching 159 million in 2022, up from about 31 million in 1990. This is a cause for concern as obesity is accompanied by a greater risk of death from heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers, and has also been linked to an increased risk of mortality during the coronavirus pandemic.

The impact of obesity is particularly evident in countries in Polynesia and Micronesia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North Africa, which now have higher obesity rates than many high-income industrialized countries. Such alarming statistics have challenged the traditional notion of obesity being a problem primarily of the affluent, highlighting the rapid lifestyle changes in low and middle-income countries.

The rapid transformation of food systems is believed to be the root cause of obesity, leading to unhealthy eating habits. While efforts to address obesity have primarily focused on promoting healthy diets and physical activity, the WHO has also expressed the need for regulating the private sector’s role in the proliferation of unhealthy products, including advocating for taxes on sugary drinks and limiting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

In addition to lifestyle interventions, the use of new treatments against diabetes has been suggested as a potential strategy to combat obesity. However, experts have emphasized that these treatments are not a standalone solution and must be carefully evaluated for their long-term effects and potential side effects.

The findings of the study underscore the urgency of preventing and managing obesity from early life to adulthood, and in doing so, collaboration between governments, health organizations, and the private sector is imperative. Failure to address the global obesity crisis will have far-reaching consequences on public health and wellbeing.