Increasing Obesity Rates Worldwide from 1976 to 2016: The Obesity Epidemic

Background: Obesity is a major health concern worldwide and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a global epidemic. We aimed to analyze temporal trends of obesity prevalence worldwide. Methods: We used data of "The Global Health Observatory" of the WHO and analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2023. Obesity prevalence (crude estimates) among adults in different worldwide WHO regions and temporal trends from 1976 and 2016 were analyzed. Results: Obesity prevalence showed large regional differences. In 2016, obesity prevalence was highest in the WHO European region and the region of the Americas, at more than 20%, whereas prevalence was lower in the WHO African region, the WHO Western Pacific region and the WHO South-East Asia region, at less than 10%. The absolute increase from 1976 to 2016 comprised an increase of 19.7% in the region of the Americas, of 14.8% and 14.2% in the WHO European region and the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, followed by 7.3% in the WHO African region, 6.0% in the WHO Western Pacific region, and 4.2% in the WHO South-East Asia region. We observed a substantially higher prevalence of obesity in females. High BMI has risen sharply in rank worldwide, now ranging among the top six global risk factors for death. Major BMI-related causes include ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertensive heart disease, and ischemic stroke. Conclusions: Obesity prevalence showed large regional differences and was highest in Europe and America. The prevalence of obesity increased worldwide between 1976 and 2016. Obesity prevalence was higher in females than in males. The importance of obesity for premature death increased between 1990 and 2023.