Obesity Rates Double Across the World, "No Longer Just a Western Problem"

BOURNEMOUTH, UNITED KINGDOM - APRIL 14: A woman sits at the water's edge as she enjoys the hot weather on the sea front on April 14 in Bournemouth, England. The un-seasonably warm weather has heralded the start to what weather forecasters predict will be a record breaking summer. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images) (2007 Getty Images)

It's not just Americans whose waist is getting thicker.

Three new studies say obesity rates across the world have doubled during the last three decades, even as blood pressure and cholesterol levels have dropped. Among developed countries, Americans are the fattest and Japanese are the thinnest. But even people like the American Samoa in the Pacific Island and people in Latin America are getting chunkier.

"Being obese is no longer just a Western problem," said Majid Ezzati, a professor of public health at Imperial College London, one of the study's authors.

In 1980, about 5 percent of men and 8 percent of women worldwide were obese. By 2008, the rates were nearly 10 percent for men and 14 percent for women.

That means 205 million men and 297 million women weighed in as obese. Another 1.5 billion adults were overweight, according to the obesity study.

Though richer countries did a better job of keeping blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control, researchers said people nearly everywhere are piling on the pounds, except in a few places including central Africa and South Asia. The studies were published Friday in the medical journal, Lancet.

The research confirms earlier trends about mounting obesity and the three papers provide the most comprehensive, recent global look at body mass index, cholesterol and blood pressure. Body mass index is a measurement based on weight and height.

Experts warned the increasing numbers of obese people could lead to a "global tsunami of cardiovascular disease." Obesity is also linked to higher rates of cancer, diabetes and is estimated to cause about 3 million deaths worldwide every year.

In an accompanying commentary, Sonia Anand and Salim Yusuf of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said the global forecast for heart disease was "dismal and comprises a population emergency that will cost tens of millions of preventable deaths" unless countries take quick action.

Even without the encroaching empire of Western fast food, Ezzati said waistlines are already expanding in parts of Latin America, the Middle East, and Western and Southern Africa.

Among rich countries, the U.S. had the highest average body mass Index, at 28. Rates were the lowest in Japan, ranging between 22 for women and 24 for men. Women in Belgium, France, Finland, Italy and Switzerland also stayed trim, with virtually no change in their BMI.

People with a BMI of 18-24 are considered to have a healthy weight. Those with a BMI of 25 or above are overweight and people with a BMI of 30 or more are classified as obese.

Ezzati said he was uncertain if the world's obesity rates had peaked and predicted other health complications would soon follow.

"We don't know how much worse the obesity problem will get," he said. "While we can manage blood pressure and cholesterol with medication, diabetes will be a lot harder."

Based on reporting by The Associated Press.

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