More than half of the world’s population will be classified as obese or overweight by 2035 if no action is taken, warns the World Obesity Federation. The situation will affect more than four billion people will be affected, with rates rising fastest among children, says this report.
Tomorrow, Saturday, March 4, the world obesity day (BMD), an appointment that serves to draw attention to the growing impact of this disease at the health, social and economic level. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of obesity in many European countries (including Spain) has tripled since 1980 and it is estimated that in European countries more than 70% of adults have unhealthy excess weight. . If current trends continue, it is expected that by 2030 more than half of the European population will be obese.
The president of the federation, Professor Louise Baurdescribed the report’s findings as a clear warning to countries to act now or risk repercussions in the future.
The paper highlights the rising rates of obesity among children and adolescents, with rates expected to double from 2020 levels among boys and girls.
The problem is especially serious if one takes into account, for example, that obesity reduces life expectancy in an equivalent way to smoking and ranks as the fifth leading cause of death in the world, as revealed in the World Obesity Atlas 2023.
Baur warned that the trend was “particularly worrying” adding that “governments and policymakers around the world must do everything possible to avoid passing health, social and economic costs on to the younger generation by assessing the fundamental systems and factors” that contribute to obesity.
In Spain, in view of this situation, the Spanish Obesity Society (SEEDO) proposes a series of main demands, recommendations and lines of action for the present and future.
Health professionals can make a difference in the proper treatment of obesity
Above all, as highlighted by the president of this scientific society, María del Mar Malagón, «it is essential that obesity be recognized as a chronic diseasewhich is involved in the development of numerous risk factors for health and the appearance of other chronic diseases, but which is preventable and treatable».
For the highest representative of SEEDO, a national and European plan against obesity is essential, even more so if one takes into account that there are still many Europeans who could benefit from medical care for obesity and are not receiving it.
The effects of the prevalence of obesity in low-income countries are also highlighted in the report. Nine of the 10 countries with the largest expected increases in global obesity are low- or lower-middle-income states in Africa and Asia.
Reasons include trends in dietary preferences toward more processed foods, higher levels of sedentary behavior, weaker policies to control food supply and marketing, and under-resourced health care services to assist with weight management and education. to health.
Low-income countries are “often the least able to respond to obesity and its consequences.”
The findings estimate that increases in obesity rates around the world will have a significant impact on the global economy, equivalent to 3% of global Gross Domestic Product.
The report emphasizes that its acknowledgment of the economic impact of obesity “is in no way reflective of the guilt of people living with obesity.”
Obese is a medical term used to describe a person with a high excess of body fat. The report uses the Body Mass Index (BMI) to make its assessments. The BMI is calculated by dividing the weight of an adult by the square of their height.