
Do you know our children are 10 times more obese than kids four decades ago?
According to a recent study, the world had 10 times as many obese children and teenagers last year than in 1975, but underweight kids still outnumbered them. Warning of a “double burden” of malnutrition, researchers said the rate of increase in obesity far outstripped the decline in under-nutrition.
“If post-2000 trends continue, child and adolescent obesity is expected to surpass moderate and severe underweight by 2022,” researchers wrote in The Lancet medical journal. The team found that there were 74 million obese boys aged 5-19 in 2016, up from six million four decades earlier.
For girls, the tally swelled from five million to 50 million. By comparison, there were 117 million underweight boys and 75 million underweight girls last year after the number peaked around the year 2000, the study said.
Almost two thirds of the underweight children lived in south Asia. Obesity ballooned in every region in the world, while the number of underweight children slowly decreased everywhere except south and southeast Asia, and central, east and west Africa.
The prevalence of underweight children decreased from 9.2 percent to 8.4 percent of girls aged 5-19 over the study period, and from 14.8 percent to 12.4 percent in boys. Obesity grew from 0.7 percent to 5.6 percent among girls and from 0.9 percent to 7.8 percent in boys.
In Nauru, the Cook Islands and Palau, more than 30 percent of children and teenagers were obese in 2016. In some countries in Polynesia and Micronesia, the Middle East, North Africa, the Caribbean and the United States, more than one in five children were obese.
- Make healthy food affordable -
Experts divide people into body mass categories calculated on the basis of their weight-to-height ratio. These range from underweight, normal weight, overweight and three categories of obese. Obesity comes with the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, while underweight children are more at risk from infectious diseases.
Children in either category can be stunted if their diet does not include healthy nutrients. “There is a continued need for policies that enhance food security in low-income countries and households, especially in south Asia,” said study author Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London.
“But our data also shows that the transition from underweight to overweight and obesity can happen quickly in an unhealthy nutritional transition with an increase in nutrient-poor, energy-dense foods.” The team used the height and weight data of 129 million people older than five to estimate body mass trends for 200 countries from 1975 to 2016.
While obesity in children and teens appears to have plateaued in rich countries, its rise continued in low- and middle-income countries, they found. “Very few policies and programmes attempt to make healthy foods such as whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables affordable to poor families,” Ezzati said in a statement. “Unaffordability of healthy food options to the poor can lead to social inequalities in obesity, and limit how much we can reduce its burden.”

Customized diets may optimize mental health, claims study

Wearing a face mask during exercise safe for healthy people: Study

Covid-19 nasal swab test to be avoided by people who underwent sinus surgery

Malaika Arora asks women to flaunt the 'warriors that they are' in new Yoga post
- Every week, fitness enthusiast Malaika Arora shares a new Yoga asana with her followers and urges them to exercise. However, this week, in order to celebrate International Women's Day she posted a picture of herself nailing the Reverse Warrior Pose and asked women to flaunt their warrior side.

International Women's Day: Disha Patani shows how strong she is in fitness clip
- Disha Patani is known for her extreme workout sessions. The Bharat actor took to Instagram on International Women's Day and shared a glimpse from her martial arts session to show how strong she is.

Twilight star Nikki Reed flaunts Acro Yoga in 'sweet capture' by Ian Somerhalder
- American actor and The Twilght Saga’s Rosalie Hale aka Nikki Reed flaunts her acro sport skills in latest fitness post as hubby and Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder captures her in the middle of the jaw-dropping exercise move. Here’s why you should give Acro Yoga workout a try too

Ishaan Khatter gives fitness twist to ‘let’s meet at the bar’ and we are in awe
- Ishaan Khatter raises the bar of fitness motivation as we enter a new week and we are too inspired to follow his version of ‘when someone says let’s meet at the bar’. Here’s why

Here's how Khloe Kardashian uses fitness to ease stress and anxiety

Blood tests can act as early indicator of extreme Covid-19: Study

Eating daily servings of fruits and vegetables helpful for longer life

Study uncovers association of greenhouse gas emissions with dietary guidelines

Study uncovers high fat diets may lead to greater risk of heart attacks

Vicky Kaushal sweats it hard in the gym to earn that weekend cheat meal
- Vicky Kaushal recently shared a glimpse of himself sweating it hard in the gym in order to earn his weekend cheat meal. We can say that the clip is inspiring us to start our Sunday with a fitness session as well.

Here's how green tea is beneficial for children with Down syndrome
