Fast Facts
- Obesity is one of the leading risk factors for premature death. It was linked to 4.7 million deaths globally in 2017
- 13% of adults in the world are obese
- 39% of adults in the world are overweight
- One-in-five children and adolescents globally, are overweight
Causes of obesity and overweight
Overweight and obesity can be described as abnormal or excessive fat or weight gain that results in risks to a person’s health and negative impact to the quality of their lives.
It is caused by a variety of reasons including, eating food that is high in fats and sugar combined with low physical activity.
Risk Factors of Obesity and Overweight
There are many risk factors of being obese and overweight including:
- Cardiovascular diseases, mainly heart disease and stroke
- Diabetes
- Cancers, including endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, liver, gallbladder, kidney, and colon cancer
In children obesity is associated with high risks of breathing difficulties, fractures, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
Overweight and obesity can be avoided
Being overweight and obese is avoidable by making the choice to eat healthier foods, including fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. Also participating in regular physical activity as part of everyday lifestyle.
Checking if you are overweight
Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. It is defined as a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2).
Click for more… https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/theme-details/GHO/body-mass-index-(bmi)?introPage=intro_3.html
Sources: Our World in Data & World Health Organisation
