Over past three decades. obesity rates increased fourfold among children and doubled among adults
More than 1 billion people worldwide are now living with obesity, with rates among children increasing fourfold across a 32-year period, according to new research.
Analysis of the weight and height measurements of over 220 million people from more than 190 countries shows how body mass index (BMI) changed across the world between 1990 and 2022.
Approximately 1,500 researchers contributed to the study by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). Published in the Lancet, it found that over the period obesity rates increased fourfold among children, and doubled among adults.
I really think we need to define obesity better. BMI is not a be-all-end-all. Many professional athletes and weightlifters are obese despite being very lean. The fact is, better nutrition has helped many develop more. BMI was originally developed to normalize data across various heights, nothing more. It was never intended to be a judgement on overall health.
We should base it on body fat. Obviously different numbers for men and women. But it would make way more sense than just height and weight.
My brother in Christ, the people you talk about are probably not even 0.01% of the equation.
The average person who has an obese BMI is just that, obese.
For entire populations this stat works perfectly. A hulking bodybuilder knows he’s not obese, no matter what his BMI says.
I’m not sure where your from but in my team at work, half of us attend gym at least once a week and we all regularly discuss diet and exercise. It’s not 0.01% that care about themselves.
I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about the general population. And even the guys I go to the gym with don’t count as obese BMI wise, despite having plenty of muscle. You really need to be in the bulking strong man / bodybuilder category to get your BMI up that high and still be on the non-fat side of things.
Tell that to life insurance providers, who will charge them far more.
And that’s just an extreme example. There are plenty of people out there that measure “obese” by BMI, but you would question if they are overweight.
I think we’re so used to seeing fat people that our perception of who really counts as obese is skewed.
This. I’m euro heritage with a BMI ~29. When I stand amongst my family I look average, when I stand with my Chinese mates I look overweight, when I’m with my pacific islander friends I look slim. The idea that all overweight/obese (by BMI) people are unhealthy is absurd.