Malta still among top European nations with obesity problem

Obesity has become a major global health challenge, a study on the global burden of the disease published in the Lancet has found.

“Not only is obesity increasing, but no national success stories have been reported in the past 33 years. Urgent global action and leadership is needed to help countries to more effectively intervene,” the report said.

It may come as no news that Malta retains among the highest levels of obesity in western Europe, together with the UK which leads the obesity ranking, and Iceland.

In western Europe, the UK lags behind only Iceland, with 74% of men and 61% of women overweight or obese, and Malta, on 74% and 58% respectively.

The study, which uses data from 1980 to 2013, found that the number of overweight and obese people in the world had surged in the past three decades. About 2.1 billion people – nearly 30% of the population of the planet – are overweight or obese, raising the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancers. Although the rise in obesity rates seems to be slowing in some countries, it has yet to be reversed in any.”

In the last three decades, not one country has achieved success in reducing obesity rates, and we expect obesity to rise steadily as incomes rise in low- and middle-income countries in particular, unless urgent steps are taken to address this public health crisis.”

Worldwide distribution of obesity (20+)

Key findings include:

·          In the developed world, men have higher rates of obesity than women, while the opposite is true in developing countries. Currently, 62% of the world’s obese people live in developing countries

·         The greatest gain in overweight and obesity occurred globally between 1992 and 2002, mainly among people aged between 20 and 40

·         Especially high rates of overweight and obesity have already been reached in Tonga where levels of obesity in men and women exceed 50%, and in Kuwait, Libya, Qatar, and the Pacific Islands of Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, and Samoa where most (more than 50%) of women are obese.

·         The prevalence of overweight and obesity in childhood has increased remarkably in developed countries, from 17% in 1980 to 24% in 2013 in boys and from 16% to 23% in girls. Similarly, in developing countries, rates have risen from roughly 8% to 13% in both boys and girls over the three decades.

·         In 2013, the proportion of obesity in girls reached 23% in Kuwait, and 30% or more in Samoa, Micronesia and Kiribati, the highest levels calculated. Similar trends in obesity were found in boys, with the Pacific Islands of Samoa and Kiribati showing the greatest obesity prevalence.

·         Within Western Europe, levels of obesity in boys ranged from 14% in Israel and 13% in Malta, to 4% in The Netherlands and Sweden. Levels of obesity in girls were highest in Luxembourg (13%) and Israel (11%), and lowest in the Netherlands Norway, and Sweden (4%)

·         In developed countries, the rate of increase in adult obesity has started to slow down in the past 8 years, and there is some evidence that more recent birth cohorts are gaining weight more slowly than previous ones.