The world rate of obesity and overweight does not stop growing. The latest report by researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) of the University of Washington (USA) has concluded that around 30% of the world’s population, that is, about 2,100 million people, are obese or have overweight
The study, which has been published in The Lancet journal, explains that the rates of overweight (BMI greater than or equal to 25) and obesity (BMI equal to or greater than 30) have increased in both men and women . As for the youngest, obesity and overweight in children and adolescents has increased by 50% since 1980,
“Obesity is a problem that affects people of all ages and incomes, everywhere; in the last three decades, no country has managed to reduce obesity rates , and it will rise steadily as incomes rise in the United States. developing countries, unless urgent action is taken to address this public health crisis, ”he says,” says Christopher Murray, leader of the study.
The United States heads the list of the ten countries with the highest number of obese people, in which Brazil and Mexico also appear and which, in total, account for half of the total number of obese people in the world, which make up 671 million worldwide .
The data are also alarming in Spain where more than half of the inhabitants are obese or overweight , specifically 54%, that is, around 22 million people. As for the younger population, almost 26% of Spanish children and adolescents, some 2.3 million in total, are obese or overweight. If we focus on the youngest, almost half of the children between the ages of six and nine in our country are overweight .
“Spain follows a similar trend in overweight and obesity to other Western European countries, where rates have increased since 1980, but have stabilized in the last ten years , unlike many developing countries where it continues to grow at a good rate ”, Declares Rafael Alfonso, from the University of Washington.
