UNITED STATES: The World Obesity Atlas says that approximately 4 billion people, or 51% of the population throughout the world, would be obese by 2035. Each and every country in the world has been affected by obesity, with certain low-income countries facing the gravest impact in the last ten years.
World Obesity Atlas predicts alarming data on obesity
World Obesity Atlas adds that one of the least developed countries in the world, Kiribati is expected to have the highest level of obesity in the world by 2035 at 67%, which is a bit higher than countries like Samoa (66%) and French Polynesia (65%) and Micronesia (64%).
In low-income countries, children and adolescents have greater risks of being prone to obesity, claims World Obesity Atlas
Some of the major reasons in low-income countries that contribute to the world obesity epidemic are globalization, the rise in ultra-processed foods, and dependence on plastic-based products, the waste of which contains obesogenic pollutants that harm people when exposed, as per World Obesity Atlas.
The global economy as a result of this would be in an economically turbulent phase with the current estimates that the cost of handling obesity would be over USD 4 trillion of the income in 2035, with some of the comorbidities of obesity being cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, liver, and kidney diseases.
Some of the serious impacts of this economic turmoil would be unemployment, disability, and early retirement, thus augmenting national costs. There has been a lack of federal and international funding as well.
To handle this situation, there should be an urgent need to call for funds, public financing, and related health priorities in the form of imposing taxes on sugar and sweetened beverages.
The World Health Organization has also suggested new recommendations on ways to avoid obesity that play a greater role in influencing the measures taken by the World Obesity Federation ROOTS framework in 2020.
The framework suggests the priority of investing in healthcare workers and expert professionals who have the means to prevent and take care of obesity in order to provide care and facilities to the patients.
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