NEWS

The total number of children, adolescents and adults worldwide living with obesity has surpassed one billion, according to a global analysis published in The Lancet. These trends, together with the declining prevalence of people who are underweight since 1990, make obesity the most common form of malnutrition in most countries.

The analysis of global data estimates that among the world's children and adolescents, the rate of obesity in 2022 was four times the rate in 1990. Among adults, the obesity rate more than doubled in women and nearly tripled in men. In total, 159 million children and adolescents and 879 million adults were living with obesity in 2022.

Obesity and underweight are both forms of malnutrition and are detrimental to people's health in many ways. This latest study provides a highly detailed picture of global trends in both forms of malnutrition over the last 33 years.

Senior author Professor Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College London, said: ‘It is very concerning that the epidemic of obesity that was evident among adults in much of the world in 1990 is now mirrored in school-aged children and adolescents. At the same time, hundreds of millions are still affected by undernutrition, particularly in some of the poorest parts of the world. To successfully tackle both forms of malnutrition it is vital we significantly improve the availability and affordability of healthy, nutritious foods.’ The study was conducted by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration and the World Health Organization. Researchers analysed weight and height measurements from over 220 million people aged 5 years or older (63 million people aged 5 to 19 years, and 158 million aged 20 years or older), representing more than 190 countries.