Dramatic Rise In The Number of Obese Children and Teens

The number of obese children and adolescents hit 124 million in 2016, which is 10 times higher than back in 1975.

A new study has found that a further 213 million children and adolescents were overweight in 2016.

By taking a look at the big picture, it equated to 5.6% of girls and 7.8% of boys being obese the previous year. Among the countries with the highest rates globally are most countries within the Pacific Islands, including the Cook Islands; more than 30% of their young people aged 5 to 19 are estimated to be obese.

On the next position we count the United States and some countries in the Caribbean such as Puerto Rico, as well as the Middle East (Kuwait and Qatar), all of which have obesity levels above 20% for the same age group.

“Over the past four decades, obesity rates in children and adolescents have soared globally, and continue to do so in low- and middle-income countries,” said Majid Ezzati, professor of global environmental health at Imperial College London

“More recently, they have plateaued in higher-income countries, although obesity levels remain unacceptably high,” he said.

“We now have children who are gaining weight when they are 5 years old,” unlike children at the same age two generations ago, Ezzati told CNN.

Source: cnn.com