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New data from The Lancet shows that fewer people are dying of hunger around the world. But it also reflects the explosive growth of another type of malnutrition: obesity.
Global rates of obesity have quadrupled among children and doubled among adults since 1990, according to a new analysis published in the medical journal The Lancet on March 1, 2024.
Nearly one billion people in the world – that is, 1 in 8 of the global population – are obese: their body mass index (BMI) is more than 30.
The World Health Organization describes BMI as “a simple index of weight for height” that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults.
It is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by his or her height in meters squared (kg/m2).
Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s nutrition and food security department, said the organization had previously estimated that the global rate of obesity would affect one billion people in 2030. But that marker was hit eight years ago – in 2022.
Speaking at a press conference about the new Lancet study, its co-author and professor of public health at Imperial College London, Majid Ezzati, said he was “astonished” by how rapidly obesity rates have grown.
But this rise in obesity is not happening where you might expect – in rich countries.
New data shows that while obesity rates have generally begun to stabilize in many rich countries, they are rising among both adults and children in low- to middle-income countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Libya, South Africa and Chile. Is growing rapidly. Syria, Türkiye and Mexico are also not behind.
“With the exception of the United States, none of the traditional industrialized world or rich countries appear to be in the top group [of the most obese nations], It is almost exclusively covered by low-to-middle-income countries,” Ezzati said.
The number of people dying of hunger is falling
New data shows some progress in reducing the number of people dying of hunger around the world.
Over the past 30 years, the global proportion of underweight adults has halved. It fell by a fifth among girls under 18 and by a third among boys.
However, studies show that the situation has not improved in some countries.
For example, in countries such as Ethiopia and Uganda, the proportion of underweight adults has barely changed.
Other countries such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan have seen rapid declines in the proportion of underweight adults.
But Pakistan appears to have replaced one form of malnutrition with another.
While the proportion of underweight adults has fallen from 27% to 7% since 1990, the proportion of obese adults has increased from 3% to 24% over the same period. This is a higher rate of obesity than most countries in the European Union.
A similar exchange has been observed in some sub-Saharan African countries, especially among women. While the number of underweight people has decreased, the number of obese people has increased.
Why are obesity rates increasing in low- to middle-income countries?
Branca said the rise in obesity in low- to middle-income countries has been so rapid in low- to middle-income countries compared to rich countries for a few reasons: changes in food production, then the “biology of the double burden,” and ultimately lack of public health. Of policies.
We explain the impact of each of these below:
First, countries such as Egypt and Mexico have experienced rapid industrialization over the past 30 years. They have transformed their food systems, Branca said, especially in urban areas.
“Sales of processed food or drinks or the number of supermarkets and outlets – that’s where the biggest growth is,” Branca said. ,[It’s a] “A very rapid transformation of that food system and not for the better.”
Second, the biology of the double burden, Branca said, refers to people who had low birth weight or who didn’t get enough food to eat during childhood. They are often more likely to be overweight or obese as adults. This could potentially help explain the changes observed in sub-Saharan Africa.
And third, there is a lack of government policy and, as a consequence, a lack of action by health departments to improve people’s access to healthy food options.
Unlike rich countries, Branca said, many low- to middle-income countries have little or no policies to prevent the “overwhelming” pressure created by marketing that promotes foods high in fat, sugar and salt. Are.
“The important story here is that in the past we [thought] Obesity is a problem of the rich,” Branca said – but obesity is a problem for the whole world.
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