Obesity has a similar impact on global GDP as smoking, and around 60% of obese people are in
developing countries. This column discusses the seriousness of the problem, and argues that more
policy action is warranted – particularly in the form of low-risk, low-cost behavioral interventions.
Obesity is now a critical global issue. More than 2.1 billion people – nearly 30% of the global
population – are overweight or obese today (Ng et al. 2014). That’s nearly two and a half times the
number of adults and children who are undernourished. Obesity is responsible for about 5% of
deaths worldwide. Simon Stevens, chief executive of the National Health Service England, warned in
September that “we are sleepwalking into the worst public health emergency for at least three
decades.”1