Overweight people number tops 2.1 billion: study

PanARMENIAN.Net - The number of people in the world who are obese or overweight has topped 2.1 billion, up from 875 million in 1980, the latest figures published in the Lancet show, according to BBC News.

Experts said the rise was due to the "modernisation of our world", causing "physical inactivity on all levels".

Researchers across the world were led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Washington, in a study they said is the most comprehensive to date.

Scientists analysed data from surveys, such as from the World Health Organization, government websites, and reviewed "all articles" about the numbers of obese or overweight people in the world.

The study said rates of obesity were rising across the world, although the rates in developed countries remain the highest.

More than half of the world's 671 million obese people live in 10 countries, ranked in order: U.S., China, India, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Germany, Pakistan and Indonesia.

The study called for "urgent global leadership" to combat risk factors such as excessive calorie intake, inactivity, and "active promotion of food consumption by industry".