Over past three decades. obesity rates increased fourfold among children and doubled among adults

More than 1 billion people worldwide are now living with obesity, with rates among children increasing fourfold across a 32-year period, according to new research.

Analysis of the weight and height measurements of over 220 million people from more than 190 countries shows how body mass index (BMI) changed across the world between 1990 and 2022.

Approximately 1,500 researchers contributed to the study by the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). Published in the Lancet, it found that over the period obesity rates increased fourfold among children, and doubled among adults.