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MORE THAN ONE in 10 people worldwide are now obese and 2.2 billion are believed to be overweight, according to a major new international study.
Obesity numbers have more than doubled in 73 countries and surged elsewhere around the world since the launch in 1980 of the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Conducted in 195 countries over a 35-year period, the research presented at a conference in Stockholm today is billed as the most comprehensive carried out to date on the subject of obesity.
At the conclusion of the study in 2015, 107.7 million children and 603.7 million adults worldwide were deemed to be obese, triggering what its authors described as “a growing and disturbing global public health crisis”.
Even though the obesity rate in children remained lower than among adults, it had grown at a faster rate during the study period – a finding experts described as especially “worrisome”.
“Excess body weight is one of the most challenging public health problems of our time, affecting nearly one in every three people,” said Dr Ashkan Afshin, the paper’s lead author and an assistant professor of global health at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle.
“Over the past decade, numerous interventions have been evaluated, but very little evidence exists about their long-term effectiveness,” he added, announcing a new 10-year partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization to evaluate global progress in controlling excess weight.
A total of 2.2 billion people – 30% of the world population – were believed to be either obese or overweight by 2015.
The World Health Organization had estimated the number of overweight people at 1.9 billion in 2014, including more than 600 million who were obese.
Excess weight is linked to sharply increased rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some types of cancer.
Four million deaths in 2015 were linked to having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 24.5, indicating a person is overweight, or of 30 or more, indicating obesity. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in centimetres squared.
Of those deaths, more than 40% involved people deemed non-obese – indicating that being overweight, even without being obese, is leading to millions of premature deaths.
More than two-thirds of deaths linked to a raised BMI were attributed to cardiovascular diseases, marking a sharp increase since 1990.
‘Global epidemic’
Of the world’s most populous countries, the rate of obesity among children and young adults was highest in the United States, at 13%, while Egypt had the highest rate of obesity among adults, at 35% of the population.
The lowest rates of adult obesity were in Bangladesh and Vietnam, both at 1%.
China and India had the highest number of obese children – respectively 15.3 and 14.4 million.
The United States and China, meanwhile, had the greatest number of obese adults – respectively 79.4 and 57.3 million.
In an editorial accompanying the study, Dr Edward Gregg and Dr. Jonathan Shaw, both epidemiologists at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the most worrisome finding was the approximate tripling of obesity in youth and young adults of middle-income countries – namely China, Brazil, and Indonesia.
“An early onset of obesity is likely to translate into a high cumulative incidence of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and chronic kidney disease,” they warned.
The study was based on the latest data provided by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, which tracks the impact of more than 300 types of pathology and injury in 133 countries.
Its chief goal was to understand, on a global scale, what is driving “the current global epidemic of disease” related to high body weight, the authors said.
The research was unveiled today at the annual EAT Stockholm Food Forum, which brings together scientists, business leaders and politicians to address ways to transform the global food system to help solve the challenges of climate, sustainable development and health.
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Phew, always feel guilt.. Not a sociopath.. Nice 1
Isn’t guilt a feeling just like hate is.
How can hate be felt so?
I’m confused, I’m going out to find a puppy to scowl at.
I agree. she “hated” her dad, but cant “love”? I call shenanigans! :p
With a sociopath hate isn’t actually the same emotion as what we consider hate.
For a sociopath relationships are about what they can take from it. It’s like they’re extremely selfish. They’re good at feigning emotions, because they have watched and learned from others throughout their whole lives – but sometimes their approach will be a little off kilter because they lack the depth of understanding because they do not feel them properly – their brains do not function in the same way.
So for the author of the book, her hating her father could simply be that she didn’t enjoy the way he treated her – there isn’t enough in the article to say why. But she may term something quite minor as hate, the same way she would term something major – such as abuse in the same way.
There’s a difference between being a b*tch and a psychopath, I should know as I’ve had one in my life, they have to be the centre of attention at all cost even by telling wildly outlandish lies. They are also bullies and your only as useful to them as an audience and as someone to massage their egos! There is only one way to deal with them and that’s cut them out of your life altogether, it might be drastic but the more they are around the more damage they cause!
I had the unfortunate experience of having one for a boss, a real nasty piece of work, he really got a kick out of seeing people reduced to tears by his control & he really exerted his power over his subirdinate
Subordinates. Its not nice to see grown adults reduced to tears & in fear from these types of bullies, & nice as pie to his superiors who thought the sun shined out of his arse. The work environment was unbearable & toxic, what with his bullying & then the little lick arses running after him all the time. He tried to move in on me, I told him to go f*uck himself, of course that gave him the ammo he needed to wield his mighty authority over me which resulted in me being sacked, which was fine with me.
Ah, a sadist as well. Push him down a flight of stairs and see if he reacts emotionally (Question #4). If he does, he’s just a sadist. If he doesn’t, then he’s probably a sociopath.
….. And you should run.
The good ole Catholic guilt takes care of that
The people who made you feel guilty are sociopaths. :-)
Guilt. The most powerful emotion in this country just piping the joint seconds of low self worth and shame. Thanks Church and colonial regime.
9/10 ain’t bad
Think of a politician. Then read the questions again. You’ll be surprised.
Isn’t it true that a higher proportion of politicians and businessmen are sociopaths/psychopaths? Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it means they can focus on the bigger picture rather than basing their policies on every sob story they hear.
Strange Killian but you might be right. I have worked for some ‘A’ types and I have to say they are very effective at their work. However their failings are often cataclysmic.
Absolutely, they can of course be very aggressive and manipulating but, forgive the cheesiness, they can work on the side of the angels.
Actually killian you’re both right and wrong. A very high percentage of directors and higher managerial staff are what would describe to be sociopaths or psychopaths. However they are not goo for company business as they are not pragmatic and able to see through the bull etc but are self serving and self driven. They aim to achieve their own personal goals and take undue risks with the business and staff relations.
Many American company’s have observed this and are attempting to weed out the existing sociopathic personality types amongst a their executive staff and more companies are employing psychologists in interviewing managerial staff not to weed out the weak but to identify and block the sociopaths.
A lot of former politicians and high stake businessmen/women who we know of being involved in crazy deals to further their own personal positions would display classic sociopathic traits including a complete lack of remorse or as we call it ‘a neck like a jockeys bollocks’
Very interesting ieoinu. My comments were just based on stuff I have heard but I don’t really know that much about it so I bow to your superior knowledge.
ieoinu. Your point is well made. And in general I agree. However it is not entirely correct that US companies are seeking to weed these people out. At least not all of them. Certain professions such as Law, Security, politics, are very much objective driven. Often an A type is ideal at least in the short term. In my experience they tend to be high achieving for at least 2 to 3 years before succumbing to the accumulation of their negative behaviour. But by that time they have served their purpose and are quietly ‘removed’. Still, I think its a bad business philosophy. Interesting all the same.
I agree, it very interesting as I think we can all identify someone that fits the criteria. Is it nature or nurture though? Are you born with a lack of empathy and self serving motivation or is it something you can acquire from gaining reward for surpassing your peers.
Ieoniu I think it might be a bit of both, a narcissistic parent, and life experiences from a very early age determine whether an individual is going to a psychopath, studies have shown that if you catch it early enough you may be able to change a child’s psychopathic behavior! The reason I say both is because some psychopaths are born into perfectly loving homes but still turn out this way and others learn from narcissistic or psychopathic parents themselves, there is usually a split in the parental relationship from a young age in the later example and some form of abuse, those kids also seem to be sexually active from a very early age and have ferocious tempers.
So thats 99.9% of Irish politicans then??
Sounds like the board of Anglo (I know, I am really sorry for bringing it up on this thread) but the taking huge risks that are self serving, no foresight, no compassion for the hardship inflicted upon others.. Following the release of the tapes it may be a safe presumption..
“criminally vindictive types whose only motivation is to take advantage of weaker people”
That accounts for 90% of the population.
Sounds more like our government.
Well, one thing sociopaths and psychopaths crave is power. Leadership roles are what they think they are here for, so it’s not unusual to have sociopaths run for office..
How good the population are at spotting them determines whether or not they get elected..
sounds just like my da, bloody knew something wasn’t right with him all these years
My ex through and through.freaked,eek!
what a bunch of silly questions
Im a sociopath. What next. Do I get a prize?
Jesus, I worked for a few of these freeks, wish I’d known and I’d have blown their fking heads off !
What about just asking “are you a sociopath”?
These are also ten questions which determine whether you are a teenager or not.
This is precisely why sociopathic personality disorder, antisocial behaviour disorder and psychopathy are not diagnosed until after 18, sometimes not until the 20s.
The only reason this would be ignored is if the child or teen seems to derive pleasure from harming animals or other people.
Three outa ten ain’t bad!
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