World Obesity Day: Changing Systems Healthier Lives

Today is world obesity day.

Let’s start with the statistics :

1.9 billion : The number of people around the world that will be living with obesity in 2035.

$4.32 trillion : The estimated global economic impact of overweight and obesity in 2035.

100% increase: Childhood obesity is expected to increase by 100% between 2020 and 2035.

1 in 4 people: It is expected that 1 in 4 of us will be living with obesity by 2035.

2x increase : The number of adults living with overweight & obesity is set to double from 2010 to 2035.

This statistics is scary…

For too long, responses to the obesity crisis have been focussed on individuals. It’s time we turn our attention to the systems that are failing us.

Health systems, government systems, food systems, the media, and the environments we work and live in. All these systems are contributing to the increasing rates of obesity around the world.

We must work together to call for change to these systems, and people living with obesity must lead this call.

We must also recognise obesity as a complex, and chronic disease, and one that is also a driver of other diseases.

Taking action on obesity is a critical step in reducing the global burden of other chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer.