What are obesity and Too much weight

Too much weight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.

Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify Too much weight and obesity in adults. It is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2).

Key Facts

•        Earthwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975.

•        In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were Too much weight. Of these over 650 million were obese.

•        39% of adults aged 18 years and over were Too much weight in 2016, and 13% were obese.

•        Most of the world's population live in countries where Too much weight and obesity kills more people than Too low weight.

•        41 million children under the age of 5 were Too much weight or obese in 2016.

•        Over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were Too much weight or obese in 2016.

•        Obesity is preventable.

What are obesity and Too much weight

Too much weight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.

Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify Too much weight and obesity in adults. It is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2).

Adults

For adults, WHO defines Too much weight and obesity as follows:

•        Too much weight is a BMI greater than or equal to 25; and

•        obesity is a BMI greater than or equal to 30.

BMI provides the most useful population-level measure of Too much weight and obesity as it is the same for both sexes and for all ages of adults. However, it should be considered a rough guide because it may not correspond to the same degree of fatness in different individuals.

For children, age needs to be considered when defining Too much weight and obesity.

Children under 5 years of age

For children under 5 years of age:

•        Too much weight is weight-for-height greater than 2 standard deviations above WHO Child Growth Standards median; and

•        obesity is weight-for-height greater than 3 standard deviations above the WHO Child Growth Standards median.

•        Charts and tables: WHO child growth standards for children aged under 5 years

Children aged between 5–19 years

Too much weight and obesity are defined as follows for children aged between 5–19 years:

•        Too much weight is BMI-for-age greater than 1 standard deviation above the WHO Growth Reference median; and

•        obesity is greater than 2 standard deviations above the WHO Growth Reference median.

•        Charts and tables: WHO growth reference for children aged between 5–19 years

Facts about Too much weight and obesity

Some recent WHO global estimates follow.

•        In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults aged 18 years and older were Too much weight. Of these over 650 million adults were obese.

•        In 2016, 39% of adults aged 18 years and over (39% of men and 40% of women) were Too much weight.

•        Overall, about 13% of the world’s adult population (11% of men and 15% of women) were obese in 2016.

•        The Earthwide prevalence of obesity nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016.

In 2016, an estimated 41 million children under the age of 5 years were Too much weight or obese. Once considered a high-income country problem, Too much weight and obesity are now on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. In Africa, the number of Too much weight children under 5 has increased by nearly 50 per cent since 2000. Nearly half of the children under 5 who were Too much weight or obese in 2016 lived in Asia.

Over 340 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 were Too much weight or obese in 2016.

The prevalence of Too much weight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 5-19 has risen dramatically from just 4% in 1975 to just over 18% in 2016. The rise has occurred similarly among both boys and girls: in 2016 18% of girls and 19% of boys were Too much weight.

While just under 1% of children and adolescents aged 5-19 were obese in 1975, more 124 million children and adolescents (6% of girls and 8% of boys) were obese in 2016.

Too much weight and obesity are linked to more deaths Earthwide than Too low weight. Globally there are more people who are obese than Too low weight – this occurs in every region except parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

What causes obesity and Too much weight?

The fundamental cause of obesity and Too much weight is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. Globally, there has been:

•        an increased intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat; and

•        an increase in physical inactivity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of work, changing modes of transportation, and increasing urbanization.

Changes in dietary and physical activity patterns are often the result of environmental and societal changes associated with development and lack of supportive policies in sectors such as health, agriculture, transport, urban planning, environment, food processing, distribution, marketing, and education.

What are common health consequences of Too much weight and obesity?

Raised BMI is a major risk factor for noncommunicable diseases such as:

•        cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke), which were the leading cause of death in 2012;

•        diabetes;

•        musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis – a highly disabling degenerative disease of the joints);

•        some cancers (including endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, liver, gallbladder, kidney, and colon).

The risk for these non-communicable diseases increases, with increases in BMI.

Childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of obesity, premature death and disability in adulthood. But in addition to increased future risks, obese children experience breathing difficulties, increased risk of fractures, hypertension, early markers of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and psychological effects.

Facing a double burden of disease

Many low- and middle-income countries are now facing a "double burden" of disease.

•        While these countries continue to deal with the problems of infectious diseases and undernutrition, they are also experiencing a rapid upsurge in noncommunicable disease risk factors such as obesity and Too much weight, particularly in urban settings.

•        It is not uncommon to find undernutrition and obesity co-existing within the same country, the same community and the same household.

Children in low- and middle-income countries are more vulnerable to inadequate pre-natal, infant, and young child nutrition. At the same time, these children are exposed to high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt, energy-dense, and micronutrient-poor foods, which tend to be lower in cost but also lower in nutrient quality. These dietary patterns, in conjunction with lower levels of physical activity, result in sharp increases in childhood obesity while undernutrition issues remain unsolved.

How can Too much weight and obesity be reduced?

Too much weight and obesity, as well as their related noncommunicable diseases, are largely preventable. Supportive environments and communities are fundamental in shaping people’s choices, by making the choice of healthier foods and regular physical activity the easiest choice (the choice that is the most accessible, available and affordable), and therefore preventing Too much weight and obesity.

At the individual level, people can:

•        limit energy intake from total fats and sugars;

•        increase consumption of fruit and vegetables, as well as legumes, whole grains and nuts; and

•        engage in regular physical activity (60 minutes a day for children and 150 minutes spread through the week for adults).

Individual responsibility can only have its full effect where people have access to a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, at the societal level it is important to support individuals in following the recommendations above, through sustained implementation of evidence based and population based policies that make regular physical activity and healthier dietary choices available, affordable and easily accessible to everyone, particularly to the poorest individuals. An example of such a policy is a tax on sugar sweetened beverages.

The food industry can play a significant role in promoting healthy diets by:

•        reducing the fat, sugar and salt content of processed foods;

•        ensuring that healthy and nutritious choices are available and affordable to all consumers;

•        restricting marketing of foods high in sugars, salt and fats, especially those foods aimed at children and teenagers; and

•        ensuring the availability of healthy food choices and supporting regular physical activity practice in the workplace.