Child and teen obesity soars 10-fold worldwide in 40 years, WHO finds

The number of obese children andadolescents worldwide has jumped tenfold in the past 40 yearsand the rise is accelerating in low- and middle-incomecountries, especially in Asia, a major study said on Wednesday.

Childhood and teen obesity rates have levelled off in theUnited States, north-western Europe and other rich countries,but remain "unacceptably high" there, researchers at ImperialCollege London and the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

"Over 40 years we have gone from about 11 million to a morethan tenfold increase to over 120 million obese children andadolescents throughout the world," lead author Majid Ezzati ofImperial's School of Public Health, told a news conference.

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This means that nearly 8 per cent of boys and nearly 6per cent of girls worldwide were obese in 2016, against less thanone per cent for both sexes in 1975.

An additional 213 million children aged 5-19 were overweightlast year, but fell below the threshold for obesity, accordingto the largest ever study, based on height and weightmeasurements of 129 million people.

The researchers called for better nutrition at home and atschool, and more physical exercise to prevent a generation frombecoming adults at greater risk of diabetes, heart disease andcancers due to excessive weight.

Clear food labels on salt, sugar and fat content are neededto help consumers make "healthy choices", the study's authors said.

Taxation and tough restrictions on marketing of junk foodshould be considered, it said. WHO has already recommended a 20per cent tax on sugary drinks to reduce consumption.

Rapid transition

South Africa, Egypt and Mexico which had "very low levels ofobesity four decades ago" now have among the high rates ofobesity in girls, between 20-25 per cent, Ezzati said.

"The experience of east Asia and Latin America and theCaribbean show that the transition from underweight tooverweight and obesity can be rapid," the study's authors said.

If current trends continue, in 2022 there will be more obesechildren and teenagers worldwide than underweight ones, who nownumber 192 million, half of them in India, the study said.

Polynesia and Micronesia had the highest rates of childobesity last year, 25.4 per cent in girls and 22.4 per cent inboys, followed by "the high-income English-speaking region" thatincludes the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,Ireland and Britain.

Among high-income countries, the United States had "thehighest obesity rates for girls and boys", 19.5 per cent and 23.3per cent, respectively.

"Children are not getting physical activity in the schooldays, there is poor food opportunities in many schools, walkingand cycling to school is going down in many countries, unsafe inmany other countries, and parents are not being given the right,sufficient advice on nutrition," said Fiona Bull of WHO'sdepartment of non-communicable diseases.

"It's the changing environments, food, behaviours, portions,consumption patterns have completely changed over the last 40 years. Highly processed food is more available, more marketedand it's cheaper," she said.