Abstract:
BACKGROUND
Although the rising pandemic of obesity has received major attention in many
countries, the effects of this attention on trends and the disease burden of obe-
sity remain uncertain.
METHODS
We analyzed data from 68.5 million persons to assess the trends in the prevalence
of overweight and obesity among children and adults between 1980 and 2015. Using
the Global Burden of Disease study data and methods, we also quantified the
burden of disease related to high body-mass index (BMI), according to age, sex,
cause, and BMI in 195 countries between 1990 and 2015.
RESULTS
In 2015, a total of 107.7 million children and 603.7 million adults were obese.
Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in more than 70 countries and
has continuously increased in most other countries. Although the prevalence of
obesity among children has been lower than that among adults, the rate of in-
crease in childhood obesity in many countries has been greater than the rate of
increase in adult obesity. High BMI accounted for 4.0 million deaths globally,
nearly 40% of which occurred in persons who were not obese. More than two
thirds of deaths related to high BMI were due to cardiovascular disease. The dis-
ease burden related to high BMI has increased since 1990; however, the rate of this
increase has been attenuated owing to decreases in underlying rates of death from
cardiovascular disease.
CONCLUSIONS
The rapid increase in the prevalence and disease burden of elevated BMI highlights
the need for continued focus on surveillance of BMI and identification, implemen-
tation, and evaluation of evidence-based interventions to address this problem.
(Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.)
