Study: Pandemic Rate Of Obesity Across Most Parts Of The World

Villejuif, France (AHN) - Findings from a new global snapshot study show that about half of the world's women and about two-thirds of the world's men are either overweight or obese. The largest study to ever assess global obesity, called "The International Day for Evaluation of Abdominal Obesity (IDEA)," was conducted over two half days and led by Beverley Balkau, director of research at INSERM in France.

Doctors randomly selected looked at 168,159 people (69,409 men, 98,750 women) in 63 countries across five continents in both rural and urban areas.

For each patient, information such as age, height, weight, gender, waist measurement and presence of heart disease or diabetes was recorded. Their body mass index (BMI) was also calculated. Waist size was an important measurement parameter since it is "a more powerful clinical marker of heart disease and diabetes than BMI," Balkau said.

The study's findings show that across the world, 40 percent men and 30 percent women are overweight, while another 24 percent men and 27 percent women are obese.

More than half had excess abdominal fat, 56 percent men and 71 percent women.

Balkau said that "overall, there's a significant increase in the frequency of heart disease and diabetes with increasing waist circumference."

Overall frequency of heart disease was 16 percent in men and 13 percent in women while frequency of diabetes was 13 percent in men compared to 11 percent in women. Both diseases are more frequent in men than women across the world.

Regional variations were significant. 7 percent of people in eastern Asia are obese compared to 36 percent in Canada and 40 percent in South Africa.

Ellen Mason of the British Heart Foundation said, "It is tragic irony that whilst much of the world is starving, many developed countries across the world are in the grips of an obesity crisis."

The study is being is published in journal of the American Heart Association.