Will Half of Adults in the US be Obese in 20 Years?
A report published in the British journal The Lancet revealed that if current trends were to continue, half of adults in the United States will be obese by the year 2030.
One way to make a shift in the trend is for the government to prioritize making changes to the food environment, such as making healthy foods cheaper and less healthy foods more expensive through tax strategies, and changing the way foods are marketed.
International public health experts said that the global obesity crisis may steadily grow worse, unless governments, international agencies, and other major organizations will take concrete steps towards monitoring, preventing and controlling obesity.
A new way of calculating how much calories ought to be cut to lose weight was also presented, a method that was described as a more accurate way to estimate projected weight loss over time. The new approximate rule of thumb for an average overweight adult who would like to lose weight was outlined as follows:
“Every change of energy intake of [about 24 calories] per day will lead to an eventual bodyweight change of about 1 kg (just over two pounds) . . . with half of the weight change being achieved in about 1 year and 95 percent of the weight change in about 3 years.”
The report is being released as a four-part series, prior to the first high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the focus of which is on the prevention and control of noncommunicable disease.
