Published By : 11 Oct 2017 | Published By : QYRESEARCH
The prevalence of obesity is on a rise across the world and has become a major health concern in many countries. Growing adoption of high-sugar diets has emerged as the major culprit in this phenomenon, with the growth of the fast food industry often held up as a key part of the reason for the growing prevalence of obesity. According to a new study published on Tuesday in Lancet, over 124 million children and adolescents across the world were obese in 2016. This illustrates the rapid growth of the obesity problem in recent decades, as a mere 40 years ago the number of obese children and adolescents across the world was just 11 million.
These numbers translate to worrying statistics: according to this study, around 7.8% of all boys and 5.6% of all girls across the world are obese. Beyond the number of obese individuals, 213 million children and adolescents were also reported to be overweight in 2016, indicating a worrying trend for the coming years.
Higher-income countries such as the U.S. have seen rapid growth in obesity in the last few decades, though the increase in obesity has plateaued in these regions in the last few years, albeit at worrying levels. Pacific Island nations such as Nauru and the Cook Islands have now emerged as the countries with the most concern regarding the spread of obesity, with more than 30% of their population within the ages of 5 and 19 estimated to be obese.