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Agence France-Presse

Nearly 60 per cent of all adults and a third of all children in the world will be overweight or obese by 2050 unless governments take action, a large new study says.
The research, published in The Lancet medical journal on March 4, World Obesity Day, used data from 204 countries to paint a grim picture of what it described as one of the great health challenges of the century.
“The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure,” says lead author Emmanuela Gakidou, from the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).
The number of overweight or obese people worldwide rose from 929 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion in 2021, the study found.
Much stronger political commitment is needed to transform diets within sustainable global food systems
Study co-author Jessica Kerr from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia
Without a serious change, the researchers estimate that 3.8 billion adults will be overweight or obese in 15 years – or around 60 per cent of the global adult population in 2050.
The world’s health systems will come under crippling pressure, the researchers warned, with around a quarter of the world’s obese expected to be aged over 65 by that time.

They also predicted a 121-per cent increase in obesity among children and adolescents around the world.
A third of all obese young people will be living in two regions – North Africa and the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean – by 2050, the researchers warned.
But it is not too late to act, said study co-author Jessica Kerr from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia.

“Much stronger political commitment is needed to transform diets within sustainable global food systems,” she said.
That commitment was also needed for strategies “that improve people’s nutrition, physical activity and living environments, whether it’s too much processed food or not enough parks,” Kerr said.
More than half the world’s overweight or obese adults already live in just eight countries – China, India, the United States, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Egypt – the study said.

While poor diet and sedentary lifestyles are clearly drivers of the obesity epidemic, “there remains doubt” about the underlying causes for this, said Thorkild Sorensen, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen not involved in the study.
For example, socially deprived groups have a “consistent and unexplained tendency” towards obesity, he said in a comment in The Lancet.
The research is based on figures from the Global Burden of Disease study from the IHME, which brings together thousands of researchers across the world and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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Wellness

6 in 10 adults, 1 in 3 children obese or overweight by 2050 without change, study warns

Poor diet and sedentary lifestyles are clearly drivers of the obesity epidemic, researchers say. Without action, the epidemic will grow far worse, they say. Photo: Shutterstock

The new study predicts a 121 per cent increase in obesity among children and adolescents around the world by 2050. Photo: Shutterstock

Nearly 60 per cent of all adults in the world will be overweight or obese by 2050 unless governments take action, a new study suggests. Photo: Shutterstock

‘The unprecedented global epidemic of overweight and obesity is a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure,’ says lead study author Emmanuela Gakidou. Photo: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

Ozempic helps obese Hong Kong dad lose weight after doctor’s order to quit drinking

Hong Kong father of two David Koo before and after he lost 14kg with the help of the drug Ozempic. Photo: David Koo 

David Koo was overweight as a boy, and continued to pile on weight in adulthood. Now that his weight-loss journey has begun he is determined to continue. Photo: Jonathan Wong

David Koo at home in Hong Kong. Eating a healthy breakfast is part of his new dietary regime to lose weight. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong-based nutritional therapist Katia Demekhina describes the risks of obesity and the lifestyle changes needed to address it. Photo: Katia Demekhina

Koo on a golf course. He plays to maintain fitness and finds he is breathing more easily now he has lost some weight. Photo: David Koo

Why ultra-processed foods  – such as breads, cereals and most sausages – are harmful; they can be addictive and are linked to cancer and other ills, doctor says

Sweetened cereals are a common breakfast food that are ultra-processed and potentially harmful. A University College London professor explains why ultra-processed foods are dangerous, and how to spot them. Photo: Shutterstock

A woman shops in a supermarket. Almost three quarters of the US food supply is ultra-processed, according to food database GroceryDB. Photo: Shutterstock

Chris van Tulleken is an infectious diseases doctor at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London and an associate professor at University College London. Photo: TEDxNewcastle

Along with artificial flavourings, additives are used to bind ingredients, to stabilise UPF products, preserve them, colour them, and enhance their taste. Photo: Shutterstock

As UPF doesn’t make us feel full, we will eat more of it, driving excess consumption, according to van Tulleken. Photo: Shutterstock

Sausages with additives are almost always UPF. Photo: Shutterstock

The cover of van Tulleken’s book. Photo: Penguin

Experts urge parents to combat childhood obesity in Hong Kong

Around one in five primary and secondary school students were overweight in the 2022-2023 academic year, according to the latest Department of Health data released last June. Photo: Sam Tsang

More than 93 per cent of students in Hong Kong failed to meet the World Health Organization’s recommendation of at least 60 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity. Photo: Elson Li

Jia Ling’s weight loss journey: how YOLO actress-director shed more than 50kg through a 2-week diet cycle and intermittent fasting

Jia Ling shed over 50kg (110 pounds) in a year for her role in the hit movie YOLO. How? Afterwards the Chinese actress revealed the diet plan she followed, and other steps she took,  to lose the weight. Photo: Sony Pictures

Jia at the premiere of her film YOLO, which means “You Only Live Once”, in Beijing, China. Photo: Getty Images

Eggs feature in all three meals on day two of the diet. Photo: Shutterstock

A still from YOLO. Photo: Weibo

Day five’s lunch features chicken breast. Photo: Shutterstock

Eat oatmeal for breakfast on day seven. Photo: Shutterstock

Have sea bass on day 10. Photo: Shutterstock

Lifestyle

Health & Wellness

Health

Study projects 60pc of adults, 33pc of children to be overweight or obese in 25 years’ time. Author calls out ‘monumental societal failure’


Study projects 60pc of adults, 33pc of children to be overweight or obese in 25 years’ time. Author calls out ‘monumental societal failure’.
