High Risk of Cardiac Arrests, Diabetes and Cancer Linked to Obesity
Obesity and diseases related to weight gain have become a health crisis in the United States, as the country leads the world in terms of obesity-related disease figures, according to a study published on Monday, June 12. Thirteen percent of adults and children of the total population of the country are deemed overweight, as of the latest findings.
The New England Journal of Medicine has just published the results of the latest study on the problem of obesity and how it has impacted countries around the world. In their results, the team has determined that over two billion of the world's total population can now be classified as overweight.
These portions of the world's population are currently at a higher risk of diseases associated with being overweight, according to the International Business Times. More alarmingly, 710 million out of this number has been determined to be obese, with an increasing number of children belonging to this category.
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Five percent of all children in those counted as overweight in this new study has been termed as obese, a number higher than ever before. Twelve percent of adults in the overweight category also qualified as obese in a trend that's been observed to be on the rise over the recent decades.
Out of all the 68.5 million people sampled by the study, the U.S. now has the highest number of obese adults, at 79.4 million. At second place is China, with 57.3 million termed obese. The number of obese adults in children has doubled since 1980 in more than 70 countries worldwide, as reported by the study.
There are huge health risks that come with being obese, according to Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
"People who shrug off weight gain do so at their own risk – risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions," Murray explained, as quoted by CNN.
"Those half-serious New Year's resolutions to lose weight should become year-round commitments to lose weight and prevent future weight gain," he said, explaining how the health benefits will be enormous for those committed to shedding some extra pounds.
