Obesity overtakes hunger as biggest threat to global health

OBESITY is now a greater threat to global health than hunger, a Lancet study has found.

One in eight people in the world is clinically obese, as the number passed one billion for the first time. It is now the leading form of malnutrition, with the number of people considered underweight falling to below 550 million.

Being obese or underweight are forms of malnutrition because in both cases people are not getting the right nutrients, vitamins and types of calories that are needed to be healthy.

Experts warned that children were paying the price for inaction on obesity by global leaders, with under-18s accounting for 159 million of those who are obese. A further 879 million adults were considered obese, bringing the total to 1.04 billion out of the world’s eight billion people in 2022. NHS leaders called the study’s findings “alarming” and said obesity rates were “a ticking health time bomb”.

The analysis by a global team of experts, led by Imperial College London and World Health Organisation, revealed that the proportion of women who are obese has doubled since 1990 to almost one in five, and tripled among men to around one in seven.

In the UK, which ranked 78th out of 200 countries for adult obesity levels, almost three in 10 adults were obese, with women slightly more likely to be overweight than men.

The researchers compared obesity and underweight levels around the world to 1990, when only 226 million people, or fewer than one in 20, were obese, including just 31million children.

The number of underweight people has come down over the same period, from 440 million to 347 million adults, and 219million to 185million children. Prof Simon Kenny, the NHS clinical director for children, said: “These figures will be as alarming to parents as they are to the NHS. Obesity affects every human organ system, and so at a young age can have a major impact on a child’s life, increasing their risk of Type 2 diabetes, cancer, mental health issues and many other illnesses.”

He said the NHS had set up 30 specialist weight clinics but that the health service “cannot solve this issue alone”. “Joined-up action by industry and wider society is needed if we are to avoid a ticking health time bomb,” he added.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’S director general, also called on the food industry to play its part in tackling the obesity crisis.

He said it would “require the cooperation of the private sector, which must be accountable for the health impacts of their products”.