MADRID, 1 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
More than 1 billion people (children, adolescents and adults) in the world already live with obesity, that is, one in eight people; In addition, 43 percent of adults are overweight, according to a new study published by ‘The Lancet’ with data from 2022.
These trends, together with the declining prevalence of underweight people since 1990, make obesity the most common form of malnutrition in most countries.
The research has been carried out by the NCD Risk Factor collaboration (NCD-RisC) network of scientists, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). Researchers analyzed the weight and height of more than 220 million people aged five and older (63 million aged five to 19 and 158 million aged 20 and older), from more than 190 countries.
In total, more than 1,500 scientists have participated in the study, which analyzed body mass index (BMI), obesity and underweight worldwide between 1990 and 2022.
Thus, worldwide, obesity among adults has more than doubled since 1990, and has quadrupled among children and adolescents (ages 5 to 19).
On the other hand, the proportion of underweight girls decreased from 10.3 percent in 1990 to 8.2 percent in 2022, and that of boys from 16.7 percent to 10.8 percent. Among girls, a decrease in underweight rates was detected in 44 countries, while among boys a decrease was observed in 80 countries.
The total number of children and adolescents affected by obesity in 2022 was almost 160 million (65 million girls and 94 million boys), compared to 31 million in 1990. Meanwhile, 77 million girls and 108 million boys had a underweight in this same year, which represents a decrease compared to 81 million girls and 138 million boys in 1990.
Precisely, the study also shows that, although malnutrition rates have decreased, it remains a public health problem in many places, especially in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The countries with the highest combined rates of underweight (low weight for age) and obesity in 2022 were the island nations of the Pacific and Caribbean and those of the Middle East and North Africa.
Despite all this, researchers also talk about “good news”, such as the decrease in the prevalence of obesity in women in Spain and France, or the slowing of the epidemic in Western Europe as a “result of prevention policies.”
Malnutrition, in all its forms, includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight), vitamin or mineral insufficiency, overweight and obesity. Malnutrition is responsible for half of the deaths of children under 5 years of age, and obesity can cause non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and some types of cancer.
“This new study highlights the importance of preventing and treating obesity from the first years of life to adulthood, through diet, physical activity and appropriate care, as needed,” said CEO Dr. of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“Getting back on track to achieve global obesity reduction goals will require the work of governments and communities, supported by evidence-based policies from WHO and national public health agencies. Most importantly, , requires the cooperation of the private sector, which must be accountable for the health repercussions of its products,” he added.
The lead author of the study, Professor Majid Ezzati, from Imperial College London, said: “It is very worrying that the obesity epidemic that was evident among adults in much of the world in 1990 is now reflected in children and adolescents in school age”.
At the same time, he noted that “hundreds of millions of people continue to suffer from malnutrition, especially in some of the poorest regions of the world.” “To successfully combat both forms of malnutrition it is vital that we significantly improve the availability and affordability of healthy, nutritious, healthy foods,” she said.
In this sense, he has pointed out that “wealth does matter.” “Eating healthy is expensive, and the rise in food prices in recent years has not helped. But one of the functions of politics is to bring good health to people,” he stressed.
Obesity is a complex chronic disease. Its causes are well understood, as are the interventions needed to contain it, which are supported by solid evidence. However, they do not apply. At the 2022 World Health Assembly, Member States adopted the WHO acceleration plan to end obesity, which supports action at the national level until 2030. To date, 31 governments are leading the way to curb the obesity epidemic through the implementation of the plan.
The basic interventions promoted by the WHO are: actions to support healthy practices from day one, including the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding; regulations on harmful marketing of food and drink to children, and food and nutrition policies in schools, including initiatives to regulate the sale of products high in fat, sugar and salt near schools;
Other measures include promoting fiscal and price policies to promote healthy diets; nutritional labeling policies; public education and awareness campaigns on healthy diets and physical exercise; standards for physical activity in schools; and integration of obesity prevention and treatment services in Primary Care.
“There are significant challenges in implementing policies to ensure affordable access to healthy diets for all and to create environments that promote physical activity and, in general, healthy lifestyles for all,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, director of the WHO Department of Nutrition and Food Safety and one of the co-authors of the study. “Countries must also ensure that health systems integrate obesity prevention and treatment into the basic package of services,” he added.
According to the WHO, the fight against malnutrition requires “multisectoral action” in agriculture, social protection and health, to reduce food insecurity, improve access to drinking water and sanitation and ensure universal access to nutritional interventions essential.
