The alarming statistics of obesity

The upward trend in the levels of overweight and obese individuals is both alarming and preventable.

Whilst it is no secret to most that obesity is a serious, current epidemic and most would know what country stands where in the global list of “the world’s fattest”, what some may not know is that obesity is no longer an issue only affecting high-income countries. There is currently an apparent rise in overweight and obesity levels in low and middle income countries, particularly in urban settings.  

The following highlights the most recent statistics as gathered by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2013.

Statistics by World Health Organisation (WHO) – March 2013

• Since 1980 obesity has doubled
• 2008 – a total of 1.4 billion adults (over 20) were overweight –  of this, 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were considered obese 
• Obesity and overweight kills morepeople than underweight in 65% of the world’s population 
• Fifth leading risk for global deaths – 2.8 million deaths per year
• 2011 – more than 40 million children under five were overweight
• 30 million children considered overweight are living in developing countries
• 10 million children considered overweight are living in developed countries
• Attributes to other non-communicable diseases – 44% diabetes burden, 23% ischaemic heart disease, 7-41% of certain cancers

 

Statistics can be found at: WHO Factsheet of overweight and obesity March 2013 

Image retrieved from: Udo Schuklenk’s Ethx Blog