Many Children And Teenagers Are Obesity, UNICEF Reveals The Reason

JAKARTA - Obesity is currently increasing among children and adolescents. UNICEF's latest data shows that obesity cases have exceeded malnutrition and become a major form of malnutrition among children and adolescents.

It is stated that at least 1 in 10 children aged 10-15 years live with obesity at this time. This was revealed in the UNICEF report entitled Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children.

The report used data from more than 190 countries and found that the prevalence of weight loss among children aged 5-19 years decreased from 2000 from 13 percent to 9.2 percent. However, the obesity rate increased from 3 percent to 9.4 percent.

Obesitas saat ini telah melampaui kasus kekurangan berat di seluruh wilayah dunia, kecuali Afrika sub-Sahara dan Asia Selatan. Angka ini terjadi disebabkan oleh banyak hal.

Much of it is driven by the transition of traditional diets to cheap, energy-intensive, and high-calorie imported foods. Like processed foods that can interfere with the health of the body.

Ultra-process food further replaces fruits, vegetables, and protein when nutrients play an important role in children's growth, cognitive development, and mental health," explained UNICEF director Catherine Russel, on her official website, quoted on Thursday, September 11, 2025.

Meanwhile, children and adolescents who are considered overweight when they weigh significantly exceed a healthy weight for their age, gender, and height.

Obesity is a severe form of overweight and causes high risk to various diseases. Starting from insulin and diabetes resistance, high blood pressure, as well as cardiovascular disease and cancer.