Over half of world population to go obese in 12 years, Women in India to get overweight at highest rate
1 min read 03 Mar 2023, 01:25 PM ISTIn India, the rate of annual increase of adult obesity is 'very high'.
PremiumMore than half of the world's population will be overweight or obese by 2035 unless urgent action is taken to curb the growing epidemic of excess weight, warns a report by the World Obesity Federation.
Currently, 2.6 billion people globally, or 38% of the world population, are already overweight or obese. But if current trends continue, the number of people who are clinically obese is expected to rise to more than 4 billion people, which is 51% of the world population, in 12 years' time.
India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Nigeria may quite quickly follow the pattern of upper-middle income countries such as Mexico, Brazil, and Turkey in seeing a rapid rise in obesity prevalence, especially among children and adolescents.
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In India, the rate of annual increase of adult obesity is “very high" at 5.2% while the rate of annual increase of child obesity is also “very high" at 9.1%. Women in India will get obese at the highest rate while girls will follow the trend at the lowest rate, as per the report.
The report highlights that, unless widespread tactics such as taxes and limits on the promotion of unhealthy food are implemented, the number of people who are clinically obese will increase from one in seven today to one in four by 2035. This means almost two billion people worldwide would be living with obesity, which increases the risk of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and others.
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The report shows that obesity among children and young people is on course to increase faster than among adults. By 2035, it is expected to be at least double the rate seen in 2020, with a rise of 100% among boys under 18, leaving 208 million affected. It is also expected to go up by 125% among girls the same age, which would see 175 million of them affected.
The report also highlights that many of the world's poorest countries are facing the sharpest increases in obesity, yet are the least well prepared to confront the disease. Nine of the 10 countries set to experience the biggest rises in coming years are low- or middle-income nations in Africa and Asia.
