February 10, 2016

The Global Rise of Obesity

Evolution of Obesity in the USA from 1990 to 2015

The below picture speaks for itself as it shows the evolution of obesity in the USA from 1990 to 2015 in a visual way. Today, the least obese state of the USA has a higher percentage of obese people than the most obese state had in 1990.

The rate of “extreme obesity” in the USA (defined as people with a BMI above 40) has risen by +350 percent over the past few years.

Source: Map from BodyNutrition.org
Obesity is not only a US problem, as by now it’s a global health threat! It’s easy to think of obesity as a problem affecting only the wealthiest of nations, but recent research shows that even developing countries are increasingly plagued by expanding waistlines.

The featured analysis discovered that more than half of the world’s obese people congregate in 10 countries: United States, China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan, and Indonesia.

Between 1980 and 2008, the worldwide obesity level rose from 23% to 34%, with the developing world seeing the worst of it with an almost fourfold increase.

The world is getting fatter, and while that may not worry you if you’re skinny, the associated health problems (diabetes and cardiovascular disease) will affect more and more people you know, and raise the costs of health care. Worst of all, there doesn’t seem to be any quick way to fix things, although there are some good ideas, like taxing sugary drinks and spending the money on parks and physical education.