One in eight people worldwide are obese, a rate that has more than doubled since 1990, research shows.
According to a new study from the Lancet, more than 1 billion people globally in 2022 were living with obesity.
The analysis found that although rates of undernutrition have dropped around the world, it still is a public health challenge in many places, in particular in Southeast Asian and sub-Saharan Africa. Island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean as well as the Middle East and North Africa saw the highest combined rates of underweight and obesity.
Obesity has more than quadrupled among children and adolescents since 1990.
Among all adults, 43 percent were overweight in 2022, the study found.
The Lancet noted that both underweight conditions and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes. Intervention is recommended, the researchers said, but there is an “urgent need” for health nutrition programs such as food assistance subsidies or vouchers for healthier foods and free school meals for children.
Improving access to healthy foods is “particularly important because both poverty and the cost of food, especially nutrient-rich foods, have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine,” the researchers wrote.
The World Health Organization (WHO) contributed data collection and analysis to the study. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesys said the study highlights the importance of managing and preventing obesity beginning in early life throughout adulthood.
“Getting back on track to meet the global targets for curbing obesity will take the work of governments and communities, supported by evidence-based policies from WHO and national public health agencies,” he said in a statement. “Importantly, it requires the cooperation of the private sector, which must be accountable for the health impacts of their products.”
WHO classifies obesity as a chronic disease. The causes are “well understood” and interventions, such as diet, physical activity and adequate care, are needed to “contain the crisis,” the organization said.
The global organization said more than 30 governments are attempting to curb obesity by implementing a plan to support healthy eating, regulating harmful marketing of food to children, making school nutrition policies, creating fiscal and pricing policies, making nutrition labeling policies, integrating obesity services in health care and making healthy eating and physical activity standards in public education.
