Worldwide increase in obesity

A study that was published in Lancet reports an alarming worldwide increase in the prevalence of obesity.

The authors estimated incidence and trends in mean body-mass index (BMI) categories, of males and females in 186 countries.

The researchers gathered population-based data that measured the height and weight of 19 million adults (9·9 million men and 9·3 million women) for which estimates were made.  They used statistical methods to estimate trends in global and national weight patterns from 1975 to 2014.  During this period global age-standardized mean BMI increased from 21·7 kg/m² to 24.2 kg/m² in in men, and from 22·1 kg/m² in to 24·4 kg/m² in women (normal BMI range is 18.5 to 22.1 kg/m²⁾. Regional mean BMIs in 2014 for men ranged from 25 kg/m² in central Africa and south Asia to 29.2 kg/m² in Polynesia and Micronesia; for women the range was from 21.8 kg/m² in south Asia to 32.2 kg/m² in Polynesia and Micronesia (BMI for the overweight category ranges from 25 kg/m² to 30 kg/m², for the obese from 30 kg/m² to 35 kg/m² while those individuals having a BMI over 35 are morbidly obese).  Finally 2.3% of the world's men and 5·0% of women were morbidly obese (i.e., have BMI ≥35 kg/m²).

Over the past 40 years there has been an unprecedented increase in the number of obese adults worldwide, climbing to about 640 million from 105 million in 1975.  If the post-2000 trends continue, by 2025, global obesity prevalence will reach 18% in men and surpass 21% in women; severe obesity will surpass 6% in men and 9% in women.  The study found that the number of obese people surpasses the number of people who are underweight.