MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

One in three adults worldwide overweight and one in nine obese

Obesity rates have doubled since 1980

“Obesity rates have doubled worldwide since 1980,” according to a study published Friday as part of a series in the Lancet that also looked at global blood pressure and cholesterol trends.

”The data show that in 2008 one in three adults in the world was overweight (BMI ≥25 kg/m2) and one in nine adults was obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). Since 1980 the average body mass index (BMI) has increased in all regions, but now middle income countries have caught up with high income countries“ according to the report.

”The research, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization, shows that systolic blood pressure is currently highest in low-income and middle-income countries. Between 1980 and 2008 mean systolic blood pressure declined markedly in high-income countries by 7.3 mm Hg, whereas it increased in low-income countries by 3.3 mm Hg. Increases in systolic pressure happened in some middle-income and low-income countries, including parts of Oceania, East Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, and West Africa“ the journal writes.

Western countries continued to have the highest average cholesterol levels while Africa had the lowest.

”Our results show that overweight and obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are no longer Western problems or problems of wealthy nations. Their presence has shifted towards low- and middle-income countries, making them global problems,“ said Majid Ezzati, of the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, who led the studies, according to the Lancet.

”Experts warned the increasing numbers of obese people could lead to a 'global tsunami of cardiovascular disease” adding that “obesity is also linked to higher rates of cancer, diabetes and is estimated to cause about three million deaths worldwide every year”.

In an accompanying Lancet Comment, Sonia Anand and Salim Yusuf of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, explore what the findings will mean for low- and middle-income countries. “Considering all risk-factor trends together, the forecast for cardiovascular disease burden in low-income and middle-income countries over the next few decades is dismal and comprises a population emergency that will cost tens of millions of preventable deaths, unless rapid and widespread actions are taken by governments and health-care systems worldwide” they write.

The study findings present an “opportunity to implement policies that lead to healthier diets, especially lower salt intake, at all levels of economic development, as well as looking at how we improve detection and control through the primary healthcare system,” Ezzati said, noting that he hoped such discussions will be part of the conversation at the High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Non-Communicable Diseases in September, according to the press release (2/3).

The scheduled UN meeting will examine ”the rising threat of so-called non-communicable or chronic, diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes, particularly in poorer countries.