Global, regional, and national prevalence of child and adolescent overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021Global, regional, and national prevalence of child and adolescent overweight and obesity, 1990–2021, with forecasts to 2050: a forecasting study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00397-6/fulltext?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-92WdW7F1dWwugNHxZqjDmLC6px21Jg93m4DInJH3TeEbobPr2JiZzHctBSAsbek8br6tswNTYHsVSFtcCiH9DCf2A6Vg&_hsmi=349955347&utm_content=349955347&utm_source=hs_email 1 in 6 young people will have obesity by 2050, analysis predicts 360 million. That’s the number of children and adolescents around the world forecast to be living with obesity by 2050. Taken together, 1 in 3 young people age 5 to 24 will be considered overweight or obese by then, a new analysis published last night in the Lancet estimates. There’s wide variation around the globe, including some countries battling both undernutrition and obesity. Half of the world’s young people with obesity will be living in two regions: North Africa and the Middle East and Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors urge collective action to prevent the transition from overweight (a reversible risk exposure) to obesity (a complex chronic disease difficult to turn around). “While families and individuals can work to balance their physical activity, dietary intake, and sleep to uphold a healthy lifestyle, this lifestyle is difficult to maintain while living in obesogenic environments,” the report says. “It is governments rather than individuals that are required to address population-level drivers of obesity, such as its commercial determinants (e.g., marketing, pricing, and food industry lobbying).”