The obesity crisis is growing fast- by 2050, 3.8 billion adults may be overweight! Can governments prevent this health disaster?
- By 2050, nearly 60% of adults and one-third of children worldwide could be overweight or obese if no action is taken
- North Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Caribbean will house one-third of obese young people
- Governments must improve diets, physical activity, and environments to combat the rising obesity epidemic
Nearly 60% of all adults and one-third of all children worldwide will be overweight or obese by 2050, unless governments take action, revealed a huge new study published in The Lancet medical journal (1). The study utilized data from 204 countries to portray a bleak picture of what it called one of the century’s greatest health issues.
“The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure,” main author Emmanuela Gakidou of the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) said in a statement.
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Rising Threat of the Obesity Epidemic
The number of overweight or obese people globally increased from 929 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion in 2021, according to the study findings.
Without significant changes, the researchers predict that 3.8 billion adults will be overweight or obese in 15 years- or roughly 60% of the worldwide adult population in 2050. The world’s health systems will be put under severe strain, the researchers warned, with around a quarter of the world’s obese likely to be over the age of 65 by then. They also anticipated a 121% increase in obesity among children and adolescents worldwide.
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Which Regions Will House the Most Obese People in 2050?
By 2050, the researchers predict that two regions- North Africa and the Middle East and Latin America and the Caribbean- will house one-third of all obese young people. However, Jessica Kerr of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia, one of the study’s co-authors, believes it is still possible to act.
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Government Action Needed to Tackle Obesity
“Much stronger political commitment is needed to transform diets within sustainable global food systems,” she told the audience.
That dedication was also required for programs “that improve people’s nutrition, physical activity, and living environments, whether it’s too much processed food or not enough parks,” Kerr stated.
References:
- Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
(Global, regional, and national prevalence of adult overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, The Lancet (2025). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(25)00355-1)
Source-Medindia