Humanity has been getting heavier and heavier over the years. Over the past 40 years, the world’s population gained about 1.5 kilograms, leading to an almost obesity epidemic. All around the world in wealthy and developing nations, children and adults are getting these numbers higher, and now an increasing number of people are overweight or obese.
Additionally, today nearly 40 percent of the world’s adults, that is about 640 million obese people, are into one of both categories according to a global researching network that called this one as the NDC Risk Factor Collaborator.
The study
This study found out that not only the number of obese people is growing faster than ever, but also the number of dangerously underweight people as well. Why is it happening? As we know, the economy is a factor, if the economy gets better it means that their consumption also grows along with it. If people make more money, there is a possibility that also they start moving from the rural to the city. And with that, the inexpensive and processed food paradise and artificially sweet jumps into people who enter onto this group and even more individuals that just live in the city as well.
The study also shows the adult’s body mass index (BMI), an indicator that quantifies a person’s tissue mass based on his height and weight, across 200 countries between the years 1975 and 2014. The U.S increased from 1.6 percent to 13.3 percent, where the population was morbidly obese and where also the underweight decayed from 7 to 2.5 percent.
Risks related to obesity
The implications of obesity is a topic of interest in many other studies, just like the potential link to autism for children born to diabetic or obese mothers. Other studies indicate that obesity is a possible factor for cognitive decline. Also, researchers estimated that in 2010 over 3.4 million people died due to excessive weight, where also obesity brings along chronic conditions that, in many cases, could lead to diabetes or cardiovascular diseases.
Source: Scientific American