The World Health Organization (WHO) is sounding the alarm. According to a study published in the British Medical Journal The Lancet, obesity now affects more than a billion people worldwide. All age groups are affected and statistics show an acceleration of the crisis in low- and middle-income countries.
Between 1990 and 2022, obesity rates in the population will quadruple among children and adolescents and double among adults, according to a study unveiled just days before World Obesity Day on March 4. Professor Francesco Branca, director of the WHO’s “Nutrition for Health and Development” department, noted that the “epidemic” has progressed “more quickly than expected”. It was initially envisioned to cross the one billion people threshold around 2030.
The rate tripled among men
Based on data from about 220 million people in more than 190 countries, this work suggests that about 880 million adults were living with obesity in 2022 (504 million women and 374 million men). In 1990, there were 195 million.
Since 1990, obesity rates have nearly tripled among men (from 4.8% in 1990 to 14% in 2022) and more than doubled among women (8.8% to 18.5%), with disparities between countries. Even more alarmingly, the disease will affect nearly 160 million children and adolescents in 2022 (94 million boys and 65 million girls). About 30 years ago, there were 31 million.
Increase in mortality
Obesity, a complex and multifactorial chronic disease, is accompanied by increased mortality due to other pathologies, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and some cancers. The Covid-19 pandemic, where being overweight was a risk factor, was an example of this.
Another lesson: Some low- or middle-income countries or regions, particularly in Polynesia and Micronesia, the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, now have obesity rates higher than in many industrialized countries, particularly in Europe, according to the study.
A “double burden”
“In the past, we thought of obesity as a problem of rich countries, now it is a global problem,” comments Francesco Branca. Now, “in most countries, a larger number of people are affected by obesity than underweight” (also called underweight), which has declined since 1990, the study shows.
Not eating enough, but eating badly: Many low- and middle-income countries are experiencing the “double burden” of malnutrition and obesity. A part of their population still does not have access to a sufficient number of calories, others no longer have this problem but their diet is of poor quality.
Take medicines with caution
“This new study highlights the importance of preventing and managing obesity through healthy diet, physical activity and adequate care to meet needs, from early in life and into adulthood,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus underlined in a press release. . It calls for “cooperation from the private sector, which must be responsible for the impact of its products on health”.
For the WHO, beneficial actions have been insufficiently implemented: taxing sugary drinks, subsidizing healthy foods, limiting the marketing of unhealthy foods to children, promoting physical activity, etc. The management of obesity has entered a new era for several months: the treatment of diabetes also works. Against this pathology, whet the appetite of pharmaceutical groups and nurture the hopes of millions of patients. “These drugs are an important tool, but not a solution” for obesity and prevention, decided Francesco Branca. “It’s important to look at the long-term or side effects of these drugs,” he cautioned.
