Saudi Arabia is listed in the top twenty countries in the world with the highest proportion of overweight or obese men with a reported 75% – and women at 78%. Other BRICS+ countries in the top twenty overweight or obese women are the United Arab Emirates and Egypt both with 74% and Iran with 73% of women.
This latest data is contained in the World Obesity Federation’s World Obesity Atlas 2024, released earlier this month.
‘Overweight’ is the classification for adults with a Body Mass Index of between 25 and 30kg/m2. Obese is when a person’s BMI is more than 30kg/m2
Saudi Arabia’s number of overweight or obese children is also cause for concern, with the kingdom’s boys listed at 46% and the girls at 39%, both of which are in the top 20 countries for the highest proportion of children living with high BMI. China and Egypt’s boys are also in the top 20 with 46% and 43% respectively.
Other countries mentioned in the report include South Africa where the compound annual growth in child obesity is number two on the top 20 list, with a 9.1% growth rate.
It’s not just the impact on health systems in these countries that has authorities concerned, it’s also the economic burden. In the UAE alone, almost $12 billion is spent on weight-related illness every year.
Johanna Ralston, CEO of the World Obesity Federation, said: “The cost of business with obesity, with fragmented and siloed efforts here as in most countries, means the UAE is expected to see a continued rise in the numbers of people living with obesity and shocking increases in the economic impact of disability and deaths associated with the disease.”
Being overweight or obese can increase the risk of several health problems, disease and illness including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, liver disease, sleep apnea, high cholesterol and cancer.
Ralston says it’s time to take decisive steps to address the obesity pandemic. She says the World Obesity Atlas 2024 is a wake-up call to policymakers to tackle the problem by introducing new strategies aimed at “reducing obesity and its associated economic burdens.”
It’s only fair though to point out that it’s not just BRICS+ countries battling against the rising number of overweight and obese people. The battle is a global one. The Atlas report 2024 shows that no country is on track to meet the World Health Organization’s 2030 target of halting the prevalence of obesity. Instead, it’s forecast that by 2035, more than half of the world’s population will be overweight or obese and it’s estimated this will ravage the global economy by a belt-busting $4 trillion.
