More than 1 billion people in the world are obese

Obesity is rising rapidly in low- and middle-income countries (Photo: TNS).

According to estimates by WHO and an international team of researchers, by 2022, the number of obese people in the world will be about 1.038 billion, an increase of more than 4 times since 1990. The researchers looked at data related to more than 220 million people in more than 190 countries.

Obesity rates in adults more than doubled between 1990 and 2022, and more than quadrupled in children and adolescents.

For girls, obesity rates increased from 1.7% of the world population in 1990 to 6.9% in 2022. For boys, the increase was from 2.1% to 9.3% over the same period.

For women, obesity rates increased from 8.8% to 18.5% and for men from 4.8% to 14% over the same period.

At the same time, the proportion of underweight people has fallen in both children and adults. Obesity has become more common than underweight in most countries, including many low- and middle-income countries that previously struggled with malnutrition.

“A staggering number of people around the world are living with obesity,” said Majid Ezzati, professor at Imperial College London.

Professor Ezzati added that while obesity rates are stabilising in many richer countries, they are rising rapidly elsewhere.

"In the past, we used to think of obesity as a rich person's problem. Obesity is a world problem," Francesco Branca, head of the WHO's nutrition department, said at a press conference.

However, obesity rates are now higher in low- and middle-income countries such as some in the Caribbean and the Middle East than in many developed countries, especially in Europe.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said measures such as taxes on high-sugar products and promoting healthy school meals were needed to help tackle obesity rates.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/hon-1-ty-nguoi-tren-the-gioi-beo-phi-20240301160949967.htm