Obesity more prominent than being underweight, study suggests

A study published in The Lancet has found that more adults in the world are classified as obese than underweight.

The research compared body mass index (BMI) among almost 20 million adult men and women from 1975 to 2014. The results found obesity in men had tripled while the number of women who fall into the obese category has doubled.

The study pooled data from adults in 186 countries and found that the number of obese people worldwide had risen from 105 million in 1975 to 641 million in 2014. Meanwhile, the number of underweight people had risen from 330 million to 462 million over the same time period.

The data calculated that there were 266 million obese men and 375 million obese women in the world in 2014. It also predicted that the possibility of reaching the World Health Organisation’s global obesity target (aimed at achieving no rise in obesity above 2010 levels by 2025) is unlikely.

Professor Majid Ezzat, lead author of the study, said: "Our research has shown that over 40 years we have transitioned from a world in which underweight prevalence was more than double that of obesity, to one in which more people are obese than underweight.

"We hope these findings create an imperative to shift responsibility from the individual to governments and to develop and implement policies to address obesity."

He added: ”For instance, unless we make healthy food options like fresh fruits and vegetables affordable for everyone and increase the price of unhealthy processed foods, the situation is unlikely to change."

Jamie Blackshaw, national lead for obesity and healthy weight, Public Health England, said: "People who are overweight and obese suffer life-changing consequences and it costs the NHS more than £6 billion a year. The causes of obesity are complex and the environment we live in encourages poor diets and low levels of physical activity.

"There is no single solution, we have to address the many factors that drive up obesity levels. We all - government, industry, local authorities and the public - have a role to play in that.

"That's why we're supporting the government to develop its childhood obesity strategy, we're running the world's first national diabetes prevention programme and we're currently piloting, with local councils and Leeds Beckett University, a whole systems approach to tackling obesity."