Obesity among young people worldwide exceeds underweight

Globally, obesity is likely now more prevalent among school-aged children and adolescents than being underweight, according to a new report from UNICEF which blamed increasingly unhealthy food environments worldwide for the shift, Reuters writes.

The UN children’s agency based its estimates on data from 2000-2022 compiled by academics in countries around the world, who first predicted in 2017 that this “tipping point” would be reached in the coming years․

UNICEF used the data to project what has happened since 2022, based on trends since 2010. It found that 1 in 10, or roughly 188 million, school-aged children and adolescents have obesity based on the World Health Organization’s criteria, putting them at risk of lifelong health problems including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Obesity rates in that age group have more than tripled, from 3% in 2000 to 9.4%, UNICEF said. That compares with a decline in the prevalence of underweight children among those aged 5-19, from nearly 13% in 2000 to 9.2% – meaning this is also still a significant problem, the report acknowledged.