Disaster Half of world on track to be overweight by 2035 - Africa and Asia are expected to see the biggest rises in obesity, the World Obesity Federation says.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-64831848

More than half the world's population will be classed as obese or overweight by 2035 if action is not taken, the World Obesity Federation warns.

More than four billion people will be affected, with rates rising fastest among children, its report says.

Low or middle-income countries in Africa and Asia are expected to see the greatest rises.

The report predicts the cost of obesity will amount to more than $4tn (£3.3tn) annually by 2035.

The president of the federation, Prof Louise Baur, described the report's findings as a clear warning to countries to act now or risk repercussions in the future.

The report in particular highlights the rising rates of obesity among children and teenagers, with rates expected to double from 2020 levels among both boys and girls.

Prof Baur said the trend was "particularly worrying", adding that "governments and policymakers around the world need to do all they can to avoid passing health, social, and economic costs on to the younger generation" by assessing "the systems and root factors" that contribute to obesity.

The effects of obesity's prevalence on lower-income countries is also highlighted in the report. Nine of the 10 countries with the greatest expected increases in obesity globally are low or lower-middle income states in Africa and Asia.

Reasons include trends in dietary preferences towards more highly processed foods, greater levels of sedentary behaviour, weaker policies to control food supply and marketing, and less well-resourced healthcare services to assist in weight management and health education.

Lower-income countries are "often the least able to respond to obesity and its consequences".

The findings estimate that rises in obesity rates around the world will have a significant impact on the global economy, equating to 3% of global Gross Domestic Product.

The report emphasises that its acknowledgement of the economic impact of obesity "is in no way a reflection of blame on people living with obesity".

The data published in the report will be presented to the UN on Monday.

Obese is a medical term used to describe a person with a high excess of body fat.

The report uses body mass index (BMI) to make its assessments. BMI is calculated by dividing an adult's weight by the square of their height.

A woman on a treadmill in China

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Fatties. Fatties everywhere.

 

[Cyclonus]

Well that's one way to achieve world peace. Everybody will be too fat to fight.

 

[Breadbassket]

In an age of fat, the future will belong to the lean.

 

[JosephStalin]

Better half the world overweight than half the world starving to death.

 

[Cyborg Braphog]

We truly live in a golden age of prosperity. No wonder the WEF is freaking out so much.

 

[ATI Escapee]

I firmly believe it is up to the individual to care for themselves, however, where I am at the shocking lack of any available fulfilling hobby done with community and with minimal cost makes me feel that the sharp rise in childhood obesity is because food has taken the place of entertainment. Kids (and adults) are suffering from both lack of quality leisure time and ability to come together with the community, imo. Food is the easy way to entertainment and relaxation. Parents are completely responsible for the health of the child, but with the working demands and cost of living crisis here I can see how it is easier to give a screen and a bag of chips to a kid than take time to cart them around to various activities. Shit sucks. Plus parents just dont want their kids playing outside alone without a parent. This is insanity. But up to the parent to handle.

 

[Ahriman]

And in the article, it includes a video from a Mexican primary school, where they are using "bicycle desks" because they're so damn obese, it's getting truly out of control.

Americans can now rejoice and say that their obesity numbers are skewed because of all these fat Mexicans in the US.

 

[Dysnomia]

I firmly believe it is up to the individual to care for themselves, however, where I am at the shocking lack of any available fulfilling hobby done with community and with minimal cost makes me feel that the sharp rise in childhood obesity is because food has taken the place of entertainment. Kids (and adults) are suffering from both lack of quality leisure time and ability to come together with the community, imo. Food is the easy way to entertainment and relaxation. Parents are completely responsible for the health of the child, but with the working demands and cost of living crisis here I can see how it is easier to give a screen and a bag of chips to a kid than take time to cart them around to various activities. Shit sucks. Plus parents just dont want their kids playing outside alone without a parent. This is insanity. But up to the parent to handle.

My family was poor so we did a a lot of free things. You've got to look for free events in your area and take your kids to the park. The park will always be free and a good source of exercise. Provided your local playground isn't just a place for winos to nap and junkies to beg for change.

That said, no one uses the baseball diamond here anymore. I don't know why they even still have it. Kids used to go there to play baseball when the local little league wasn't having a game. But we no longer have a local league. When I moved back here I was amazed to see the diamond overgrown in places and the local little league no longer running. Maybe it was too expensive or they couldn't get anyone to run it.

 

[Boss Hawg]

WHAT A TRIUMPH… erm wait.

 

[Daddy's Little Kitten]

Wall-E's just a movie. Right?

 

[Sean_Igger]

Wait, are we supposed to celebrate fatness or fight against it? Make up your damned minds globohomo.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Easy solution to world hunger - Have permission for one half to eat the other, doesn't matter which

 

[Balalaika Z Bree]

The Pharma/medical industry could see massively increased profits from this, but if people are getting sicker younger, their shortened lives may actually hurt profits in the long run. Classic big tobacco problem of needing to replace the prematurely dead customers. Horrifying news, but hardly shocking.

Better half the world overweight than half the world starving to death.

I think it boils down to causes and severity. Starving to death for lack of food is not the same as eating disorders and the like, just like eating yourself to death with disorders is not the same as gradual weight-gain from normal to overweight due to slight over-eating or eating the wrong things, under-activity, or disease.

May God have mercy on us.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

Reasons include trends in dietary preferences towards more highly processed foods, greater levels of sedentary behaviour, weaker policies to control food supply and marketing, and less well-resourced healthcare services to assist in weight management and health education.

Also does not seem to help that lockdowns due to the pandemic managed to make this into an everyday reality to people not allowed to get out of the house.

 

[Spiny Rumples]

My family was poor so we did a a lot of free things. You've got to look for free events in your area and take your kids to the park. The park will always be free and a good source of exercise. Provided your local playground isn't just a place for winos to nap and junkies to beg for change.

That said, no one uses the baseball diamond here anymore. I don't know why they even still have it. Kids used to go there to play baseball when the local little league wasn't having a game. But we no longer have a local league. When I moved back here I was amazed to see the diamond overgrown in places and the local little league no longer running. Maybe it was too expensive or they couldn't get anyone to run it.

Just hope someone makes it a hobby to maintain the diamond before it gets too far gone.

 

[Pokemon Conquistador]

My family was poor so we did a a lot of free things. You've got to look for free events in your area and take your kids to the park. The park will always be free and a good source of exercise. Provided your local playground isn't just a place for winos to nap and junkies to beg for change.

That said, no one uses the baseball diamond here anymore. I don't know why they even still have it. Kids used to go there to play baseball when the local little league wasn't having a game. But we no longer have a local league. When I moved back here I was amazed to see the diamond overgrown in places and the local little league no longer running. Maybe it was too expensive or they couldn't get anyone to run it.

We used to have a public pool in my old neighborhood. A few years ago, it closed because there just weren't enough kids using it. Part of the problem was that the only people who could afford houses in that area were old Boomers. One of the unforseen effects of the Housing Crisis are that people aren't having kids anymore because they can either only afford the house, or the kids, but not both. If the suburbs no longer have kids in them, then all of the stuff that was originally made for kids will fall to ruin.

 

[ZazietheBeast]

Because of the following: Goyslop and lack of incentive to exercise. The latter being enforced by terminally ill Tumblrites who believe that they're beautiful at every size.

The best way to combat this is to unironically, stop with the goyslop and go right back to shaming fat people and bringing back programs that emphasizes fitness and strength.

But then again, fit people aren't exactly the niggercattle type the elites want. Hence eat ze bugs so they get a bunch of mindless easily manipulated fatasses.

 

[Kheapathic]

Because of the following: Goyslop and lack of incentive to exercise. The latter being enforced by terminally ill Tumblrites who believe that they're beautiful at every size.

The best way to combat this is to unironically, stop with the goyslop and go right back to shaming fat people and bringing back programs that emphasizes fitness and strength.

But then again, fit people aren't exactly the niggercattle type the elites want. Hence eat ze bugs so they get a bunch of mindless easily manipulated fatasses.

Imagine the insanity of the government tried to bring back the Presidential Fitness Test.

 

[Mojo Thief]

World full of fatties, environmental degradation, AI taking over...

WALL-E was truly prescient, wasn't it?

 

[DoomsdayElite]

When the food "shortages" really start and cannibalism becomes more prevalent, the fatties will be hunted like whales. That's a shitload of steaks in your freezer.