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August 1, 2016

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Diets around the World Are Becoming More Similar

The world is entering a new era of severe obesity

By Mark Fischetti

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People in many developing nations, such as Liberia and Georgia, are gaining weight at a rapid pace, faster since 2000 than they did from 1975 to 2000 (among pink icons). And although the rate of weight gain in many developed countries since 2000 is slower than it was prior (among orange icons), it has kept going up. When taken together, the two trends mean that “for much of the world, we are passing from an era of obesity into a new era of severe obesity,” says Majid Ezzati, lead scientist on a far-reaching study of 200 countries published recently in the Lancet. Researchers “are surprised by the extent of severe obesity,” he says (bar chart). If the trajectory continues, Ezzati says, it will be virtually impossible to meet the World Health Organization's global goals of halting the rises in obesity and diabetes by 2025.

SOURCE: “TRENDS IN ADULT BODY-MASS INDEX IN 200 COUNTRIES FROM 1975 TO 2014: A POOLED ANALYSIS OF 1698 POPULATION-BASED MEASUREMENT STUDIES WITH 19.2 MILLION PARTICIPANTS,” BY NCD RISK FACTOR COLLABORATION, IN LANCET, VOL. 387; APRIL 2, 2016; NCD RISK FACTOR COLLABORATION www.ncdrisc.org (data) Graphic by Jen Christiansen

Mark Fischetti was a senior editor at Scientific American for nearly 20 years and covered sustainability issues, including climate, environment, energy, and more. He assigned and edited feature articles and news by journalists and scientists and also wrote in those formats. He was founding managing editor of two spin-off magazines: Scientific American Mind and Scientific American Earth 3.0. His 2001 article “Drowning New Orleans” predicted the widespread disaster that a storm like Hurricane Katrina would impose on the city. Fischetti has written as a freelancer for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian and many other outlets. He co-authored the book Weaving the Web with Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, which tells the real story of how the Web was created. He also co-authored The New Killer Diseases with microbiologist Elinor Levy. Fischetti has a physics degree and has twice served as Attaway Fellow in Civic Culture at Centenary College of Louisiana, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 2021 he received the American Geophysical Union’s Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism. He has appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN, the History Channel, NPR News and many radio stations.

More by Mark Fischetti
Scientific American Magazine Vol 315 Issue 2This article was published with the title “Fatter Still” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 315 No. 2 (), p. 80
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0816-80
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