A total of 107.7 million children and 603.7 million adults worldwide were obese in 2015, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
For the study, researchers examined data on nearly 69 million people to estimate the number of children and adults who were overweight or obese between 1980 and 2015. Researchers also used the Global Burden of Disease study data and methods to quantify the burden of disease related to high body-mass index and BMI in nearly 200 countries between 1990 and 2015.
The study found the overall prevalence of obesity was 5 percent among children and 12 percent among adults in 2015. Researchers said they also found the number of obese people doubled from 1980 to 2015 in more than 70 countries worldwide and has continuously increased in most other countries.
"Although the prevalence of obesity among children has been lower than that among adults, the rate of increase in childhood obesity in many countries has been greater than the rate of increase in adult obesity," they said.
Additionally, researchers found 4 million global deaths were attributed to high BMI, and nearly 40 percent of those deaths occurred in people who were not obese. According to the study, heart disease accounted for more than two-thirds of deaths related to high BMI.
"Our study provides a comprehensive assessment of the trends in high BMI and the associated disease burden. Our results show that both the prevalence and disease burden of high BMI are increasing globally," researchers concluded. "These findings highlight the need for implementation of multicomponent interventions to reduce the prevalence and disease burden of high BMI."
Read the full study here.
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