Malnutrition!

Obesity bigger health crisis than hunger


Obesity is a bigger health crisis globally than hunger, and the leading cause of disabilities around the world, according to a report published in the British medical journal The Lancet. Nearly 500 researchers from 50 countries compared health data from 1990 through 2010 for the Global Burden of Disease report, revealing what they call a massive shift in global health trends. The researchers discovered that there is been a huge shift in mortality. Kids who used to die from infectious disease are now doing extremely well with immunisation. The report revealed that every country, with the exception of those in sub-Saharan Africa, faces alarming obesity rates â€" an increase of 82% globally in the past two decades. Middle Eastern countries are more obese than ever, seeing a 100% increase since 1990. Changes in the lifestyle and unhygienic food intake play a big role here. The health burden from high body mass indexes now exceeds that due to hunger, according to the report. It is the high time to address the neglected global epidemic- obesity. If we could lower the obesity rates, we would see the numbers of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and pain decrease as well. NCDs will cost more than $30 trillion over the next 20 years, according to a 2011 report by the World Economic Forum and Harvard School of Public Health. They estimate an additional $16 trillion will be spent on mental health conditions â€" costs that could push millions of people into poverty, economists say. Experts urged policymakers to pay attention to intervene in this rising trend.
Source: CNN