Study: More than One Billion People Worldwide are Obese
The Facts
- According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO), in partnership with an international group of researchers and based on data from over 220M people in more than 190 countries, there are now more than a billion people in the world living with obesity.
- The study, spanning 1990 to 2022, found that the rate of obesity quadrupled among children and adolescents, more than doubled in women, and nearly tripled in men. In total, about 880M adults and 159M children were obese in 2022.
- Obesity is defined in adults as having a body mass index greater or equal to 30kg/m2. Prof Majid Ezzati, the senior author of the study, pointed to an urgent need to "improve the availability and affordability of healthy, nutritious foods" to tackle the condition.
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The Spin
Narrative A
Habits and personality traits acquired in early life play a major role in how an individual's body turns out. Studies have shown that children showing low conscientiousness — and are irresponsible, careless, and disorganized — are likely to battle obesity later in life. A key part of being conscientious is developing self-control, which could enable them to evolve into healthy adults.
Narrative B
We must stop viewing obesity as merely a lifestyle disease, with a "lack of will" and nonchalance about one's "looks" as contributing factors. The abnormal or excess accumulation of fat in one's body is a more complex phenomenon and is caused by multiple factors. These include genes, environment, imbalanced food intake, and lack of physical activity. It's a chronic problem, and its treatment could do without the stigma attached to it.
Metaculus Prediction
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