Obesity is becoming the world’s public enemy number 1. 13% of the world’s population was obese in 2014. By 2020, that number could rise to 20%. In forty years, the number of obese people has increased from 105 million to 641 million, according to the results ofa study published in the medical journal The Lancet. However, obesity is responsible for 3.4 million deaths and reduced life expectancy.
The world is getting bigger and bigger
700 international researchers reviewed 1,700 studies onPopulation Body Mass Index (BMI). For the first time, they have thus retraced the global evolution of weight since 1975 over a period of forty years.
The results of this meta-analysis revealed thatobesity and overweight have contaminated the world and this phenomenon does not seem to want to stop. They reveal that the average BMI of men fell from 21.7 to 24.2 while that of women fell from 22.1 to 24.4. For the world’s population, this increase inBMI is equivalent to taking 1.5 kilograms per decade.
On the other hand, it is important to note that undernutrition still exists, especially in the poorest countries on the planet. Indeed, a quarter of the population of South Asia suffers from it just like 12% to 15% of the people living in the countries of central and eastern Africa.
“If post-2000 trends continue, the likelihood of achieving the globalobesity is practically zero. On the contrary, if these trends continue, by 2025 the global prevalence of obesity will reach 18% in men and exceed 21% in women. L’obesity severe will exceed 6% in men and 9% in women. Nevertheless, there is still widespread underweight in the poorest regions of the world, particularly in South Asia, ”the study authors conclude.
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