The World Obesity Federation published a special study for World Obesity Day, illustrating how high childhood obesity rates are predicted to climb by 2025 if governments around the world fail to take action. The findings, which were published in the journal Paediatric Obesity, predicted an increase of 49 million overweight children – i.e. children aged 5-17 years - between 2010 and 2025. This would mean a total of 268 million children globally, of which 91 million would be obese.
The study also predicts how many children are likely to suffer from related diseases such as Type-2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. While being overweight is a well-known risk factor for many conditions including Type 2 diabetes, raised blood pressure and some cancers, many people are unaware that it also greatly increases a person’s chance of developing non-alcohol related fatty liver disease. Obesity and alcohol use are two of the main factors behind the increasing numbers of people currently being diagnosed with liver disease.
The authors estimate the likely numbers of children in 2025 with impaired glucose tolerance as 12 million, Type 2 diabetes as 4 million, raised blood pressure 27 million and hepatic steatosis (fatty liver disease) as 38 million.
The United Kingdom ranked 15th, with a predicted 3.3 million overweight children and 411 predicted to be suffering from fatty liver disease.
The paper, entitled Planning for the worst: estimates of obesity and comorbidities in school-age children in 2025, is available here:
The Guardian newspaper’s coverage of it can be read here:
World Obesity Day also saw British Liver Trust Communications and Policy Director, Vanessa Hebditch, waxing lyrical for the Institute of Alcohol Studies on the similarities in the current Government’s approach to the regulation of alcohol and high sugar foods. Read her blog here: