A study by Ng et
al reports on the prevalence of obesity in countries around the world. Their research that was supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published
in Lancet, reviewed
more than 1,700 studies covering 188 countries from 1980 to 2013.
The study found more than 2.1 billion individuals
worldwide are overweight or obese, up from 857 million in 1980. Also, obesity was estimated to have caused 3·4 million deaths, 3·9% of
years of life lost, and 3·8% of disability-adjusted life-years worldwide in
2010.
They based their analysis on body-mass index (BMI) a measure of
weight and height. Individuals with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese, while
those a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered overweight, according to the U.S.
National Institutes of Health.
Worldwide, the proportion of
adults with a BMI of 25 or greater increased between 1980 and 2013 from 28·8% to
36·9% in men, and from 29·8% to 38·0% in women. In the US, 87 million individuals
or 27.2% were obese according to study conducted in 2013 (Gallup). The prevalence of obesity has
increased in children and adolescents worldwide. In 2013, 23·8% of boys and 22·6% of girls were
overweight or obese in developed countries, while in developing countries 12·9%
of the boys and 13·4% of the girls were overweight or obese. One
of the “most troubling” findings of the study is that the percentage of
overweight or obese children and teenagers has increased by nearly 50 percent since
1980. In the US alone, nearly 30
percent of the children and teens are either obese or overweight, up from 19
percent in 1980.
More than half of the world’s 671
million obese people live in the U.S., China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico,
Egypt, Germany, Pakistan and Indonesia. During
the more than three decades studied, the largest increase in obesity rates were
in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Honduras and Bahrain for women and New Zealand,
Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. for men. In adults, the estimated prevalence of obesity exceeded 50% in
men in Tonga and in women in Kuwait, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia,
Libya, Qatar, Tonga, and Samoa. Since
2006, the increase in adult obesity in developed countries has slowed down.
Because obesity
can raise the risk of diabetes, osteoarthritis, heart disease and cancer, among
other health-threatening conditions, strategies to correct it such increase physical activity, decrease
of total caloric intake and selectivity the foods eaten are needed as obesity
represents a major global health
challenge.
Addendum: A study based on review of the health records of 65,000 that was published in JAMAPediatrics (9/29/14) suggests infants and young children with repeated exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics at ages 0-23 months are associated with childhood obesity.
Addendum: A study based on review of the health records of 65,000 that was published in JAMAPediatrics (9/29/14) suggests infants and young children with repeated exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics at ages 0-23 months are associated with childhood obesity.
