According to a new study, the rate of childhood obesity has massively increased around the world since 1975. Overall, researchers found that childhood obesity rates jumped from just under 1% in the 1970s to nearly 6% for girls and almost 8% for boys in the present day, with rates at 20% or greater in the United States, Egypt, and some Polynesian islands. This means that 50 million girls and 74 million boys around the world are currently obese, which places them at risk for serious health problems both now and during adulthood. Study author Dr. Leanne Riley writes, “The trends show that without serious, concerted action to address obesity… the health of millions of people will be needlessly placed in great jeopardy, leading to immense human and economic costs to communities.”
The Lancet, October 2017