Editing Obesity (section)

==Epidemiology==
{{Main|Epidemiology of obesity}}
[[File:Obesity rate (WHO, 2022).png|thumb|upright=1.4|Share of adults with BMIs > 30 (2022)]]

In earlier historical periods obesity was rare and achievable only by a small elite, although already recognised as a problem for health. But as prosperity increased in the [[Early Modern period]], it affected increasingly larger groups of the population.<ref name=Haslam2007/> Prior to the 1970s, obesity was a relatively rare condition even in the wealthiest of nations, and when it did exist it tended to occur among the wealthy. Then, a confluence of events started to change the human condition. The average BMI of populations in first-world countries started to increase, and consequently there was a rapid increase in the proportion of people overweight and obese.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Prentice AM| title = The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Countries Passing through the Economic Transition | journal = Ann Nutr Metab | issue = suppl 3 | pages = 47–54 | date = 2018 | volume = 72 | doi = 10.1159/000487383 | pmid = 29635233 | s2cid = 4928218 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

In 1997, the WHO formally recognized obesity as a global epidemic.<ref name=Caballero/> As of 2008, the WHO estimates that at least 500&nbsp;million adults (greater than 10%) are obese, with higher rates among women than men.<ref name=WHO2009a>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/index.html |title=Obesity and overweight |website=World Health Organization |access-date=8 April 2009}}</ref> The global prevalence of obesity more than doubled between 1980 and 2014. In 2014, more than 600 million adults were obese, equal to about 13 percent of the world's adult population,<ref>FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO. 2017.The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017. Building resilience for peace and food security. Rome, FAO</ref> with that figure growing to 16% by 2022, according to the World Health Organisation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Obesity and overweight |url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=www.who.int |language=en}}</ref> The percentage of adults affected in the United States as of 2015–2016 is about 39.6% overall (37.9% of males and 41.1% of females).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL | title = Prevalence of Obesity Among Adults and Youth: United States, 2015–2016 | journal = NCHS Data Brief | issue = 288 | pages = 1–8 | date = October 2017 | pmid = 29155689 }}</ref> In 2000, the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) stated that [[overweight]] and obesity were replacing more traditional [[public health]] concerns such as [[undernutrition]] and [[infectious diseases]] as one of the most significant cause of poor health.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.who.int/iris/handle/10665/42330#sthash.8pQS2f7r.dpuf |title=Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic |author=World Health Organization |date=2000 |publisher=World Health Organization |pages=1–2 |author-link=World Health Organization |access-date=1 February 2014}}</ref>

The rate of obesity also increases with age at least up to 50 or 60&nbsp;years old<ref name = "Seidell_2005" />{{rp|5}} and severe obesity in the United States, Australia, and Canada is increasing faster than the overall rate of obesity.<ref name=morbid2007/><ref name="pmid24351678">{{cite journal | vauthors = Howard NJ, Taylor AW, Gill TK, Chittleborough CR | title = Severe obesity: Investigating the socio-demographics within the extremes of body mass index | journal = Obesity Research & Clinical Practice | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | pages = I–II | date = March 2008 | pmid = 24351678 | doi = 10.1016/j.orcp.2008.01.001 }}</ref><ref name=Tjepkema2005>{{cite book|author=Tjepkema M |chapter=Measured Obesity–Adult obesity in Canada: Measured height and weight |title=Nutrition: Findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey |publisher=Statistics Canada |date=6 July 2005 |location=Ottawa, Ontario |chapter-url=http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-620-m/2005001/article/adults-adultes/8060-eng.htm}}</ref> The [[OECD]] has projected an increase in obesity rates until at least 2030, especially in the United States, Mexico and England with rates reaching 47%, 39% and 35%, respectively.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oecd.org/els/health-systems/Obesity-Update-2017.pdf |title=Obesity Update 2017 |publisher=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref>

Once considered a problem only of high-income countries, obesity rates are rising worldwide and affecting both the developed and developing world.<ref name=EuroG2008>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tsigos C, Hainer V, Basdevant A, Finer N, Fried M, Mathus-Vliegen E, Micic D, Maislos M, Roman G, Schutz Y, Toplak H, Zahorska-Markiewicz B | title = Management of obesity in adults: European clinical practice guidelines | journal = Obesity Facts | volume = 1 | issue = 2 | pages = 106–16 | date = April 2008 | pmid = 20054170 | pmc = 6452117 | doi = 10.1159/000126822 | url = http://www.gojaznost.org/gs/dodatak/OMTFManagementofObesityinAdults2008.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120426034913/http://www.gojaznost.org/gs/dodatak/OMTFManagementofObesityinAdults2008.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date = 26 April 2012 }}</ref> These increases have been felt most dramatically in urban settings.<ref name=WHO2009a/>  In 2021, nearly half the global adult population - a billion men and 1.11 billion women aged 25 or older - were overweight or obese.  It was predicted  that if these trends continue about 57.4% of men and 60.3% of women would be overweight or obese by 2050.

Sex- and gender-based differences<ref>{{cite news |title=Over 50% of adults worldwide predicted to be obese or overweight by 2050 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy87d2g81yxo |access-date=4 March 2025 |publisher=BBC News |date=4 March 2025}}</ref> influence the prevalence of obesity. Globally there are more obese women than men, but the numbers differ depending on how obesity is measured.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Robertson C, Archibald D, Avenell A, Douglas F, Hoddinott P, van Teijlingen E, Boyers D, Stewart F, Boachie C, Fioratou E, Wilkins D, Street T, Carroll P, Fowler C | title = Systematic reviews of and integrated report on the quantitative, qualitative and economic evidence base for the management of obesity in men | journal = Health Technology Assessment | volume = 18 | issue = 35 | pages = v–vi, xxiii–xxix, 1–424 | date = May 2014 | pmid = 24857516 | pmc = 4781190 | doi = 10.3310/hta18350 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=10 May 2016 |title=Managing obesity in men |url=https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/collection/managing-obesity-in-men/ |access-date=7 December 2022 |website=NIHR Evidence |doi=10.3310/highlight-000844 |language=en-GB}}</ref>