1.7 billion - the numbers of obese worldwide
headlines, following a new assessment that up to 1.7 billion people
worldwide could be overweight or obese.
Calls for urgent action to treat obesity are again in the headlines, following a new assessment that up to 1.7 billion people worldwide could be overweight or obese.
Prof Philip James, chairman of the London-based International Obesity TaskForce, said the revised figure - 50 per cent higher than earlier estimates - meant that most governments were simply ignoring one of the biggest risks to health affecting the world's population.
The updated estimate takes into account a new recommendation from a WHO expert group, which concluded that obesity-related health risks increase among Asians from a lower body mass index threshold (23.3 rather than 30 for the general population) because of their special vulnerability to weight-related disorders. If the proposal were adopted as a new benchmark, it could add another half billion to current estimates of the world's overweight population.
Speaking at a Roche-sponsored meeting of international obesity specialists in Monte Carlo, Professor James said that appropriate medical treatment was rarely provided to manage obesity, yet it was clearly established that even a modest weight reduction and improved weight control could bring considerable health benefits to individuals - preventing serious diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of cancer.
Professor James, who previously chaired the United Nations Commission on the Nutrition Challenges of the 21st Century, said there was growing evidence that the impact on health of the escalating obesity epidemic could overtake that of tobacco.
"There is a wide spectrum of risk factors related to obesity, which when viewed as a whole, have a tremendous impact on health. By tackling overweight through improvements in diet, activity levels and treatment, we can have a far reaching effect on what is already a huge health burden from cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes."
"It is clear that extreme forms of obesity are rising even faster than the overall epidemic and we are witnessing a real health tragedy unfolding," said Professor James.
In the USA the percentage of black women with morbid obesity - a BMI of 40 or more - has doubled in less than a decade to 15 per cent, he added. Overall 6.3 per cent of US women - one in 16 - are morbidly obese.
"We are seeing a rapid increase in morbid obesity in Europe too, although with smaller percentages. The data for England show that morbid obesity in women increased 180 per cent while rising three fold among men in less than a decade! One in 40 women in England now has a body mass index so great they are unquestionably in need of immediate treatment for their obesity, but how many are being helped?" Professor James asked.
The IOTF, part of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO), is conducting long term research on obesity and the global burden of disease as part of a WHO programme. Existing estimates suggest more than 1.1 billion people already fall into the pre-obese or obese categories. (These figures are based on WHO body mass index (BMI) definitions of 25 and above for overweight and BMI 30 and above for obesity.)
Prof Arne Astrup, president-elect of IASO, said: "There is a global obesity epidemic which underpins the increasing levels of non-communicable diseases which are forecast to explode in the next 20 years. It is vital that we take a more serious approach to the treatment of the huge numbers who are obese, as well as introducing effective measures to prevent the problem getting worse."
