An article from the Harvard T.F Chan School of Public Health has explored Obesity throughout the world and highlights some striking observations, summarized below.
- Roughly 500 million people are obese today, with obesity being defined as a BMI greater than 30. This is twice the amount of worldwide obesity as in 1980, and if current rates continue, 1 billion people will be obese on Earth by 2030.
- Obesity has shifted to be a “disease of the poor,” affecting mostly lower-income populations and even becoming a pandemic in developing countries.
- Rates of obesity in the United states is highest among other high-income countries. Ethnic groups have higher rates of obesity.
- Rates of obesity are not increasing as quickly in Europe, however there is an upward trend in BMI numbers.
Read the full article to learn about rates of obesity in each region of the world.
