Obesity is now a big fat global problem, especially for children
- The face of the 1 billion-strong obesity epidemic is changing, with rates surging across the developing world and growing faster globally for the young than for adults
- In Hong Kong, in particular, three years of lockdowns and school closures worsened obesity rates for children
The study, undertaken by 1,500 researchers and conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization, comprised 3,663 studies and 222 million participants. Tracking the progress of the obesity epidemic from 1990-2022, it calculates that one in eight people worldwide are obese (with a body mass index of 30 or more). Since 1990, the obesity rate has doubled for women (18.5 per cent) and tripled for men (14 per cent).
If there is any good news at all from the study, which also tracked the world’s underweight population (with BMI under 18.5), it is that the world’s underweight population has fallen to 532 million, down 127 million from 1990. This is no doubt due to falling poverty over the past three decades.
“We tended to think of obesity as a problem of the rich. Now [it’s] a problem of the world,” said Dr Francesco Branca, WHO’s director of nutrition and health, and a co-author of the study.
In short, wherever you find rapid economic growth, rising gross domestic product per capita and growing urbanisation, you find a decline in physical activity as people shift from hard labour to city jobs. “We have set up our societies in such a way that they don’t support good health,” said Louise Foley at Cambridge University’s Centre for Diet and Activity Research. “We haven’t really designed our cities to make activity an easy thing to do.”
A recent study noted that during the pandemic, the prevalence of overweight and obese schoolchildren rose by 6.3 per cent for those in Primary 1-2 and by 2.7 per cent for those in Secondary 1-2. It attributed this to increased sedentary behaviour, more time spent online and a jump in the consumption of takeaway junk food. The increase in school closures also exacerbated things – children tend to put on weight during the school holidays when they stay at home more.
There is no shortage of alarming findings as the world grapples with an obesity epidemic. The World Obesity Atlas 2024, released on the eve of World Obesity Day, warns that we could have 1.9 billion obese people by 2035 – about one in four worldwide. It calculates that the obese and overweight together will account for over half of the world’s population, with the number of obese and overweight children doubling to around 770 million.
While unhealthy lifestyle changes linked to economic progress and urbanisation can play a big part in aggravating the obesity pandemic, the unaffordability of nutritious food – which pushes the poor towards junk food – is also a major contributor.
As WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “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. Importantly, it requires the cooperation of the private sector, which must be accountable for the health impacts of their products.”
“A global treaty would be fantastic but there’s not been a concerted political will behind that,” said Johanna Ralston, CEO of the World Obesity Federation. “Policies don’t often change until there’s an existential threat.” Perhaps the threat of a billion obese people across the world is not existential enough.
David Dodwell is CEO of the trade policy and international relations consultancy Strategic Access, focused on developments and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific over the past four decades