At least one in eight people worldwide live with obesity, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, citing a recently published medical study. This represents a billion people living with the disease in 2022, a figure which has doubled among adults and quadrupled among young people aged 5 to 19 since 1990, according to data from the study, published in The Lancet, a medical journal fame based in the United Kingdom.
“This new study highlights the importance of preventing and managing obesity from early in life and into adulthood, through diet, physical activity and healthy adequate care, where appropriate,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, the agency that contributed to the study.
Obesity has become a crisis, reaching epidemic proportions that reflect a sharp increase in recent decades.
The causes of obesity are well understood, as are the evidence-based interventions needed to stem the crisis, says the global health agency, but the problem is that these measures are not being implemented.
“To get back on track and meet the global goals to combat obesity, governments and communities will need to rely on evidence-based policies from WHO and national public health agencies,” she said. said the UN health chief.
“This also requires the cooperation of the private sector, which must account for the impact of its products on health,” he added.
The study data also showed that 43% of adults were overweight in 2022.
This article is originally published on toulouse7.com
