The latest revelation in terms of the growing obesity epidemic is certainly fearful as the alarming study said that 2.1 billion - nearly 30 percent of the world's population - people are either obese or overweight.
If we talk about India, other shocking news is that it comes third in the top-10 country club that has over 50 percent of the world's 671 million obese. Looking at individual countries, the highest proportion of the world's obese people - 13 percent - live in the US. China and India together represent 15 percent of the world's obese population.
According to Christopher Murray, director of Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at University of Washington,"In the last three decades, not one country has achieved success in reducing obesity rates. We expect obesity to rise steadily as incomes rise in low- and middle-income countries in particular, unless urgent steps are taken to address this public health crisis."
In a first-of-its-kind analysis of trend data from 188 countries, the study, published in The Lancet, claimed that the rise in global obesity rates over the last three decades has been substantial and widespread - presenting a major public health epidemic in both the developed and the developing world.
In developed countries, men had higher rates of overweight and obesity while women in developing countries exhibited higher rates.
Study further says that also in developed countries, the peak of obesity rates is moving to younger ages
Between 1980 and 2013, the prevalence of overweight or obese children and adolescents increased by nearly 50 percent.
In 2013, more than 22 percent of girls and nearly 24 percent of boys living in developed countries were found to be overweight or obese. More than 50 percent of the world's 671 million obese live in 10 countries - US, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, and Indonesia - the study noted.
Over the 33-year period of research, several countries in the Middle East showed the largest increase in obesity globally. These countries include Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait.
(With inputs IANS)
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