The number of people living with obesity around the world is already exceeds one billion, between adults and children. Between 1990 and 2022, the number of obese children and adolescents has quadrupled, while the number of adults has doubled.
These are the worrying figures pointed out by the recent study that has just been published The Lanceta global analysis of global malnutrition that has examined and weighted 3,663 studies with data from 222 million children, adolescents and adultsrepresentative of the population of the entire planet, between 1990 and 2022.
The work, funded by the UK Medical Research Council, the UK Research and Innovation Center and the European Comissionhas been carried out by researchers from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), an international network made up of more than 1,500 researchers and different professionals who collaborate with the World Health Organization.
Obesity figures have increased so much that, researchers point out, this is already the main cause of malnutrition, since at the same time the number of underweight people has decreased. However, obesity also has serious effects on health in the medium and long term, being one of the main risk factors when it comes to suffering. diseases cardiovascular, pulmonary, various types of cancer and diabetes. Obesity is related to the main causes of death in the world, heart disease and stroke.
The total number of children and adolescents with obesity in 2022 was almost 160 million (65 million girls and 94 million boys), compared to 31 million in 1990. On the other hand, 77 million girls and 108 million boys were underweight in 2022 , compared to 81 million girls and 138 million boys in 1990.
In adults the numbers have also increased. Obesity rates more than doubled among women (from 8.8% to 18.5%) and almost tripled in men (from 4.8% to 14.0%) between 1990 and 2022. The proportion of underweight adults fell by half between 1990 and 2022 (from 14.5% to 7.0% in women; from 13.0% to 7.0% in women; 7% to 6.2% in men).
Tedros Adhanom GhebreyesusDirector-General of the WHO, said: “This new study highlights the importance of preventing and treating obesity from the first years of life to adulthood, through diet, physical activity and appropriate care, as appropriate. necessary”.
“The private sector must be held accountable for the health repercussions of its products”
And, in line with the conclusions of researchers who have warned these days about the dangers of ultra-processed foods in the diet, he adds that “achieving global objectives for reducing obesity will require the work of governments, supported by evidence-based policies from WHO and national public health agencies. And more importantly, it requires the cooperation of the private sectorwhich must be accountable for the health repercussions of its products.”
Furthermore, the increase in numbers is especially worrying in some low and middle income countries, particularly those of Polynesia and Micronesia, the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa. These countries now have higher obesity rates than many high-income industrialized countries, especially European ones. The extreme phenomena derived from climate change -drought, floods, fires-, war conflicts and citizen insecurity or epidemics and diseases affect these countries the most, limiting access to healthy food.
Global problems can worsen both underweight and obesity
In this sense, Guha Pradeepa, co-author of the study from the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, warns that global problems can worsen both forms of malnutrition. “The repercussions of all this are the food shortage in some countries and households and the shift to less healthy foods in others. To create a healthier world, we need comprehensive policies that address these challenges.”
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