By 2030, there will be more than 1.2 billion obese adults, according to UN estimates

The UN warned that cases of obesity continue to rise in the world and estimates that by 2030 there will be “more than 1.2 billion obese adults,” according to a report released this week by five of its agencies.

In the last decade, obesity cases went froml 12.1% (2012) and to 15.8% (2022) of the world’s population, according to the report “State of food security and nutrition in the world””, presented in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, coinciding with the G20 ministerial meetings.

“Projections indicate that by 2030 there will be more than 1.2 billion obese adults in the world”the report warned.

The five agencies that participated in the study (FAO, IFAD, WHO, WFP and UNICEF) also warned of the coexistence of malnutrition along with overweight and obesity on the planet.

However, while malnutrition has decreased over the past two decades, obesity has increased sharply.

“The two indicators of overweight and obesity are growing at a faster rate,” Máximo Torero, chief economist of the UN agency for Food and Agriculture (FAO), stressed to EFE.

This reinforces “the urgent need for specific interventions”, because the world is not in a position to achieve this today “none” of the seven global nutrition targets for 2030, according to the five United Nations agencies.

Among those objectives are reducing by a 40% the number of children under 5 years of age with stunted growth; decrease by 30% low birth weight and not increasing the percentage of overweight children.

For the UN, there is a combination of factors behind malnutrition, including: “the persistent inflation of food prices”, which skyrocketed following the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian military invasion in Ukraine, and “continues to erode the economic benefits of many people in many countries.”

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