According to new projections, by 2050, more than half of the children and young adults in the Middle East and North Africa would be overweight, making the region the epicenter of the global childhood obesity issue.
If “startling” patterns in weight rise over the past 30 years continue, scientists predict the Middle East will surpass North America as the most obese region in the globe. They spoke of a worldwide “profound tragedy” that might have “dire financial and societal costs” for years to come.
Poorer nations that have experienced food shortages and hunger may be forced to reduce overeating, even as some of their citizens suffer from malnutrition and their clinics and hospitals are overburdened. The study’s co-author, Susan Sawyer, an adolescent health professor at Australia’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, stated, “The health impact is going to be devastating in those countries.
She said experts in the Middle East anticipate “particularly worrying” tendencies. “The Middle East and North Africa, together with Latin America and the Caribbean, are the two regions in the world where, over the last 30 years, we’ve seen the most rapid increases,” she remarked to the newspaper.
In that regard, it’s probably not shocking that the predicted rates are likewise extremely high there, and they’re especially concerning,” she stated. “The trends are not expected to increase as quickly in the high-income world, if only because the proportion of overweight and obese people has already reached a comparatively high level.
Also Read:
Pioneering Sustainability: A Conversation with Eng. Heba Alfarra
Redefining The Shipping Experience In The UAE With Haven Shipping: Ramesh Gadarla
About Author
