In 2025, Great Britain will be the European country with the highest number of obese people. Almost 4 in 10 Britons will have a BMI of 30 or more.
Over the past 40 years, the proportion of obese people has increased sixfold, from 105 million in 1975 to 641 million in 2014, according to a study published this Friday in the scientific journal The Lancet. It is presented as one of the most detailed ever published to date. Epidemiological data from nearly 200 countries have been collected.
If this rate of progression is maintained, 1 in 5 people will be obese in 2025 worldwide. Projections by researchers from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London (Great Britain) indicate that the first to be affected by the global obesity epidemic will be women: 21% of them will have a mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 30 compared to 18% of men.
And this global scourge that nothing seems to stop does not spare Europe. This work reveals that the average BMI of Europeans in 2014 exceeded 25, ie the BMI indicating overweight, whereas it was below this value 40 years earlier.
Great Britain, the bad student
On the men’s side, Cyprus, Ireland and the island of Malta share first place with an average BMI of 27.8. For women, it is in Moldova where the BMI is the highest (27.3). On the contrary, Germany and Bosnia are the countries where the men are the least corpulent (25.9). Swiss women are the thinnest in Europe with a BMI of less than 24.
Despite numerous efforts and several campaigns to reverse the trend, France remains one of the leading countries in Europe. It has 12 million obese people.
However, Great Britain remains the bad student of the old continent. In 2025, researchers estimate that 38% of women will be obese. They will be followed closely by the Irish and the Maltese. Men also seem to be following the same path: Ireland and the UK will share first place with 38% of men affected by obesity. Our neighbor across the Channel will then be the biggest country in Europe.
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