The Number Of Children Who Experience Obese Obesity Is Patients With Weight Weight Loss

UNICEF Headquarters. (Wikimedia Commons/ajay_sursh)

JAKARTA - Globally, obesity is likely to be more common among school-age children and teens than a lack of weight, according to a report from UNICEF last month, which blamed the increasingly unhealthy food environment around the world for this shift.

The UN Agency for Children is based its estimates on data from 2000-2022 collected by academics across the world, which first predicts in 2017 that this "critical point" will be achieved in the coming years.

UNICEF uses the data to project what has been going on since 2022, based on trends since 2010. It was found that 1 in 10, or about 188 million, school-age children and adolescents are obese based on the criteria of the World Health Organization (WHO), which puts them at risk of life-long health problems including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The level of obesity in this age group has more than tripled, from 3 percent in 2000 to 9.4 percent, the UNICEF said.

This figure is comparable to the decline in prevalence of children with less weight among those aged 5-19 years, from nearly 13 percent in 2000 to 9.2 percent, which means it is also still a significant problem, according to the report.

"When we talk about malnutrition, we no longer just talk about children weighing less," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, quoted by Reuters on October 11.

"Obesity now exceeds weight in all regions of the world except for Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia," the UNICEF added.

In some Pacific Islands countries such as Niue and Cook Islands, the worst affected globally, nearly 40 percent of children aged 5-19 years are obese, the report said.

This figure reaches 21 percent in the United Arab Emirates and the United States, he added. In several countries such as the US, doctors are now back using weight loss drugs that have just been developed for teenagers.

UNICEF says ultra-process foods that are high in sugar, salt and fat, as well as marketing unhealthy products that are almost evenly distributed, are a key factor in increasing obesity.

"Obesity is not a failure of parents or children. Obesity is a result of a toxic food environment," said Chris Van Tulleken, professor of global health at University College London and author of the book "Ultra-Processed People".

In UNICEF's poll on 64,000 young people aged 13-24 years from 170 countries, 75 percent of respondents said they had seen advertisements for sweet drinks, snacks, or fast food in the past week. Even in countries affected by the conflict, 68 percent of young people reported seeing this type of ad.

UNICEF says actions are urgently needed from governments around the world, including restrictions on marketing and bans on fast food in schools.