100 crore people in world now obese, 4 times increase in 30 years: Lancet report

Now 100 crore people worldwide are obese, according to a latest report of WHO and Imperial College London which is published by Lancet. It stated that 15.90 crore children and 87.90 crore adults have become victims of obesity. According to the data of 2022, about 88 crore adult people across the world have become obese. In 2022, 50.40 crore women and 37.40 crore men became obese and 15.90 crore school children also became obese. In 1990, less than 19 crore people were obese, of which approximately 13 crore were women and 9 crore were men. That means obesity among people has increased almost four and a half times in 33 years.

Between 1990 and 2022, obese women have increased from 9% to 18.5%. Obese men have increased from 4.8% to 14%. a threefold increase. The study collected weight and height data of 22 crore people from 190 countries. Of these, 6.30 crore were children and adolescents aged between 5 to 19 years, while 15.80 crore were people above 20 years of age. According to the survey, obesity has increased 4 times among school children.  

In 1990, 3 crore children across the world were victims of obesity, while 16 crore children were suffering from obesity as per 2022 data. According to the Lancet survey, both obesity and underweight come under the category of malnutrition.

Why is obesity a disease?

Obese people develop heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, difficulty in breathing, and arthritis quickly. Excess weight takes a toll on every organ of the body. The heart of obese people works harder to pump blood, due to which there is a risk of increasing blood pressure. Liver bears more burden in digesting food and knees bear more burden in walking. According to WHO, obesity increases the risk of certain types of cancer as well as the risk of death in case of coronavirus.

Reason behind increasing obesity

According to research experts, the biggest reason for increasing obesity around the world is bad eating habits and processed food is in the first place in it.

Double whammy of obesity and underweight in India

In 1990, the number of underweight people in India was more than that of obese people. It is the same in 2022 also. But obese people are continuously increasing in India. According to the data presented by The Lancet based on India's Family Health Survey, people in India are most likely to suffer from obesity due to visceral fat on abdomen. Despite being fit according to BMI, there are a large number of people whose waist is large.

According to some studies, obesity in India has increased 24 times in the last 2 to 3 decades. The Indian Academy of Pediatrics has updated the guidelines after seeing the increasing rate of children becoming obese in India. According to this obesity will now be called a disease. This definition will apply to adults also.