M ost people now live in countries where being overweight or obese is a bigger problem than being underweight. More than one billion people worldwide are estimated to be living with obesity – and 159 million of them are children or adolescents. The growth in childhood obesity rates is concerning.
Back in 1975, fewer than 1 in every 100 children was obese – now the rate is almost 10 per 100 young people, according to figures from the World Obesity Federation. And when you look at the combined prevalence of both obesity and being overweight among children and adolescents, a fifth are affected, compared to just 4% in 1975. Unhealthy weight in childhood is linked to multiple adverse physical and mental health outcomes, and is likely to have lifelong implications.
And unless action is taken, it is likely that obesity and being overweight will become increasingly common. As such, it is recognized as one of the most important public health problems we currently face. The spread of unhealthy weight is not even around the world and due to a complex interplay of factors affects some groups more than others.
In the US for example, around a fifth of children and adolescents overall are obese . However, when you break it down by age, 12.7% of two to five year-olds are obese compared to 22.
2% of 12-19 year-olds. Obesity in the US is also more prevalent among Hispanic children (26.2%) and non-Hispanic Black children (24.
8%). By contrast, prevalence among non-Hispanic white children and .