Obesity will affect one child or adolescent in six by 2050, with a third of this segment of the population finding themselves obese or overweight within 25 years. This is the alarm raised by a study by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI) published on March 4, World Obesity Day, in the journal "Lancet", which urges us to take urgent measures to combat the obesity epidemic, writes A2 CNN.
"Given this huge global shift in children and adolescents' weight, we can no longer continue to blame people for their choices. We call on governments to step up and address regulatory interventions, including taxing sugary drinks, banning junk food advertising to children and young people, and funding healthy meals in primary and secondary schools. We also need to consider the benefits of broader policies, such as reviewing urban planning to encourage active lifestyles," says Susan Sawyer, who directs the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Royal Children's Hospital and Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Australia and works with the WHO on the same issue, reports A2 CNN.
According to the analysis, by mid-century, a third of children and adolescents (385 million in total) will be overweight or obese (360 million in total). Broken down by age group, this means that there will be 356 million children aged 5 to 14 and 390 million adolescents aged 15 to 24 with serious weight problems. From 1990 to 2021, the global obesity rate tripled in the 5-24 age group: evidence that current policies to combat obesity are not working. As of 2021, 493 million children were overweight or obese.
Obesity is very difficult to reverse after adolescence, so prevention is essential. A new generation of obese or overweight people will translate into future generations of adults struggling with diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancer, fertility problems and mental health issues, at astronomical costs to global health systems, reports A2 CNN.
One initiative with immediate benefit would be the establishment of national surveillance systems to analyze the prevalence of obesity and overweight in each country. According to the study authors, priority for intervention should be given to the population of healthy or overweight girls between the ages of 15 and 24, who are entering their peak childbearing years: "Overweight adolescent girls are a key target if we are to avoid the intergenerational transmission of obesity, chronic conditions, and dire financial and social costs among future generations," says Jessica Kerr, one of the study authors.
The study authors used the Global Burden of Disease 2021, the study that provides the most comprehensive picture of causes of mortality and disability worldwide, to predict how obesity will spread in 204 countries and territories.
The progress of this epidemic will be particularly rapid in North Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, where large populations are combined with limited resources. China, Egypt, India and the United States will be home to the largest number of obese children and adolescents in 2050. (A2 Televizion)
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