One in eight people in the world is obese

The number of obese people in the world has more than doubled since 1990, reaching 1 in 8 of the world's inhabitants. By 2022, more than 1 billion people would be living with the condition, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even some types of cancer.

Excess weight has become a global problem and today there are more obese people than underweight people in most countries, including low-income countries.

These and other findings are part of a study published on March 1st in the journal The Lancet. [1] The research was carried out by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO).

More than 1,500 scientists contributed to the study, which assessed the weight and height measurements of more than 220 million people aged 5 and over, representing a sample from more than 190 countries. The analysis provided an overview of the changes in obesity and underweight between 1990 and 2022.

The number of obese people in the world has more than doubled compared to 1990, reaching the mark of 1 in every 8 inhabitants of the planet. By 2022, more than 1 billion people would be living with the condition, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even some types of cancer.

Excess weight has become a global problem and today there are more obese people than underweight people in most countries, including low-income countries.

These and other findings are part of a study published on March 1 in The Lancet. [1] The research was carried out by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RisC), in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO).

More than 1,500 scientists contributed to the study, which assessed the weight and height measurements of more than 220 million people aged 5 and over, representing a sample from more than 190 countries. The analysis provided an overview of changes in obesity and underweight between 1990 and 2022.

The authors point out that both conditions represent malnutrition that is harmful to health in many ways.

While obesity has doubled among adults, it has quadrupled among children and adolescents (5 to 19 years old) compared to 1990 figures. The study estimates that in 2022, approximately 37 million children under the age of 5 will be overweight.

Obesity has become a problem even in regions that have traditionally suffered from underweight children. In Africa, the number of overweight children under 5 has increased by almost 23% since 2000. The situation is even more evident in Asia, where almost half of children in the same age group were overweight or living with obesity in 2022.

Despite the advance of overweight in these and other regions, underweight malnutrition is still present in several nations, especially in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Although underweight continues to exist in several nations, the figures show a significant reduction in the prevalence of the problem. In 2022, 183 million women and 164 million men were underweight, a result which, even with the growth in the world population, is 45 million and 48 million lower respectively than in 1990.

"It is very worrying that the obesity epidemic, which was evident among adults in much of the world in 1990, is now reflected in school-age children and adolescents," said the article's senior researcher, Dr. Majid Ezzati, PhD, from Imperial College London.

"At the same time, hundreds of millions of people are still affected by underweight, especially in some of the poorest parts of the world. To successfully combat both forms of malnutrition, it is vital to significantly improve the availability and affordability of healthy and nutritious food," he added.

The study followed the WHO classification criteria, identifying adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30kg/m2 as obese and individuals with a weight below 18.5kg/m2 as underweight. For overweight, the criterion was a BMI greater than or equal to 25kg/m2.

In 2022, around 2.5 billion adults were overweight, of which 890 million (16%) were obese.

The study found that the countries with the highest prevalence of obesity among women were Tonga and American Samoa, two island nations. Among men, American Samoa and Nauru led the way, with more than 60% of the adult population living with obesity in 2022.

In the United States, the obesity rate among women increased from 21.2% in 1990 to 43.8% in 2022. Among men, the figure rose from 16.9% to 41.6% in the same period.

The prevalence of obesity in the USA has been classified as the 36th highest in the world for women and the 10th highest in the world for men in 2022.

In Brazil, obesity has also advanced. In 2022, there were 27 million adult women with obesity: a prevalence of 32.6%, representing an increase of 20.7 percentage points compared to 1990. The result places the country in 70th place globally for female obesity.

Among men, there were 19 million adult Brazilians with obesity in 2022: a prevalence of 25%, representing an increase of 19.2 percentage points over the same period.

The number of underweight people fell for both sexes. Among women, there were 2.1 million in this condition: a prevalence of 2.8%, a reduction of 3.4 percentage points compared to 1990.

Underweight among men was lower, reaching 1.5 million adults. The prevalence of 2.1% is a decrease of 2.8 percentage points in 33 years.