Rajeev Choudhury

The World Health Organisation has warned that if steps are not taken immediately, about 167 million people could be in danger of being unhealthy because of being overweight or obese by 2025.

In a statement issued by the organisation on the occasion of the World Obesity Day on March 4, 2022, the WHO said that currently more than one billion people 34% of whom are children across the world are obese and remain at a high risk of developing a range of non-communicable diseases including hypertension and diabetes.

Warning that obesity is a disease that impacts most body systems, the WHO said that the disease affects the heart, liver, kidneys,  joints, and reproductive system and leads to diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, various forms of cancer, as well as mental health issues.

Stressing that the key to preventing obesity is to act early, the WHO further said that the preventive steps could be taken even before a baby is conceived.

“Good nutrition in pregnancy, followed by exclusive breastfeeding until the age of six months and continued breastfeeding until two years and beyond, is best for all infants and young children,” the statement released by the WHO read.

The global health watchdog urged all the countries to work together to create a better food environment so that everyone can access and afford a healthy diet.

It urged the countries to adopt multipronged strategies like restricting the marketing to children of food and drinks high in fats, sugar and salt, taxing sugary drinks, and providing better access to affordable, healthy food; providing safe options for physical activities in the cities and towns and involving the schools need to help households teach children healthy habits from early on.

The WHO further informed that its secretariat is currently developing an acceleration action plan to stop obesity, tackle the epidemic in high burden countries and catalyse global action, which will be discussed at the 76 World Health Assembly to be held in May 2022.

It may be noted that obesity cases are growing rapidly across the globe and according to various studies about 40.3% of the country’s population remain obese in India.

In the 2020 study published in the journal, Annals of Neurosciences the researchers noted that urban, educated women are more prone to becoming obese.

Noting that obesity is the highest among ageing urban men and women who are college-educated and lead a sedentary lifestyle, the researchers of the study stressed the need of taking urgent public health measures in reducing the impact of obesity.