More than half of the world’s population will be overweight or obese by 2035 without significant action, according to a report.
The World Obesity Federation’s 2023 atlas predicts that 51 per cent of the world, or more than four billion people, will be obese or overweight within the next 12 years.
Rates of obesity are rising particularly quickly among children and in lower income countries, the report said.
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Describing the data as a “clear warning,” Louise Baur, president of the World Obesity Federation, said that policy makers needed to act now to prevent the situation worsening.
“It is particularly worrying to see obesity rates rising fastest among children and adolescents,” she said in a statement.
“Governments and policy makers around the world need to do all they can to avoid passing health, social and economic costs on to the younger generation.”
The report said childhood obesity could more than double from 2020 levels, to 208 million boys and 175 million girls by 2035.
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The cost to society is significant as a result of the health conditions linked to being overweight, the federation said: more than $US4 trillion ($5.9 trillion) annually by 2035, or 3 per cent of global GDP.
However, the authors said they were not blaming individuals but calling for a focus on the societal, environmental and biological factors involved in the conditions.
The report uses body mass index (BMI) for its assessments, a number calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in metres squared.
In line with the World Health Organisation’s guidelines, a BMI score over 25 is overweight and over 30 is obese.
In 2020, 2.6 billion people fell into these categories, or 38 per cent of the world’s population.
The report also concluded that almost all of the countries expected to see the greatest increases in obesity in the coming years are low or middle-income countries in Asia and Africa.
The data will be presented to United Nations policy makers and member states next week.
Few obese Australians receiving targeted GP support
More than two-thirds of Australian adults are classed as overweight or obese and that figure is projected to increase in coming years.
GPs hold the key to addressing Australia’s obesity epidemic but few patients are receiving targeted weight management support.
More than two-thirds of Australian adults are classed as overweight or obese and that figure is projected to increase in coming years.
Obesity rates have doubled over the last decade at an annual cost of almost $12 billion.
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The findings are contained in a report released ahead of World Obesity Day on Saturday by health research alliance Research Australia, which warns general practitioners need targeted assistance to support their patients.
Less than one per cent of obese Australians who visit their GP receive weight management support, the report says, despite research indicating many cases can be linked to genetics, family history and ethnicity.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners specialist Georgia Rigas said obesity is a complex medical condition that affects individuals in many different ways, ranging from metabolic complications to mental health issues.
“Obesity management is not about loss of weight but rather gains in health,” she said.
“What a person living with obesity wants to hear from their GP is ‘I understand your disease and I am here to help’.”
Obesity remains “greatly misunderstood”, leaving patients at risk of stigmatisation, miscommunication and a lack of formal medical diagnosis.
The report found there is an urgent need to upskill general practitioners and provide them with the resources needed to support patients.
Educating Australians on the complexities of obesity is also critical, Research Australia chief executive Nadia Levin said.
“By 2032, Australians’ life expectancy could be cut by five years if obesity rates are not halved,” she said.
“Now is the time to provide dedicated, sustainable funding to ensure Australia’s world leading obesity researchers are sufficiently supported to continue to provide this evidence for change.”
The report, jointly produced with Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, highlighted the disproportionate impact of obesity upon Indigenous people, those living in the regions and older adults.
More than 70 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 15 or above are overweight or obese, contributing to the health gap with non-Indigenous Australians, the report found.
