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Over Two Million People In The World Are Obese, Report Says

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Over two million people in the world are now overweight or obese, a global report states. Data on 195 countries shows that the fattest countries on Earth.

According to the research, American Samoa tops the list for the largest proportion of obese people. When it came to the most populated nations, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the USA scored the highest in obesity, with 27.5%, 26.8% and 26.5% of citizens, respectively, having a body mass index over 30, Newsweek reports.

The Global Burden of Disease 2015 Obesity Collaborators analyzed information on 68.5 million people to take a closer look at body weight differences from 1980 to 2015. The result is the most comprehensive, up-to-date report on the ongoing obesity problem currently hitting the planet.

A total of 2.2 billion people across the globe are overweight or obese, representing 30% of everyone. Obesity numbers have doubled in 70 countries since 1980, and have risen in almost all countries. A total of 108 million children and over 600 million adults are now classified as obese.

The study says,

Although the prevalence of obesity among children has been lower than among adults, the rate of increase in childhood obesity in many countries was greater than that of adults.

The highest obesity rates overall, by nations and territories, are American Samoa, Tonga, Samoa, Kuwait and Kiribati. When taken by the 100 most populated countries, the top are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, USA, South Africa and Iraq.

The US ranked first in childhood obesity among the most populous countries, with 12.7% of American kids classified as obese.

Data from 2015 shows that around four million people died as a result of having too much body mass. Researchers predict that this number will grow as more people develop health problems caused by obesity.

It’s a “growing and disturbing” trend happening across the Earth, the researchers say. Ashkan Afshin, lead author of the study, says, “Excess body weight is one of the most challenging public health problems of our time, affecting nearly one in every three people. Over the past decade, numerous interventions have been evaluated, but very little evidence exists about their long-term effectiveness.”

He adds, “Over the next 10 years, we will closely with the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization in monitoring and evaluating the progress of countries in controlling overweight and obesity. Moreover, we will share data and findings with scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders seeking evidence-based strategies to address this problem.”

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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