Obesity Has Gone Global

Global growth: More than 10 percent of adults worldwide are now obese, according to a new study published in the latest Lancet. “Obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are no longer Western problems or problems of wealthy nations,” senior study author Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College London’s School of Public Health, said in a prepared statement. “Their presence has shifted toward low and middle income countries, making them global problems.” Cancer deaths are predicted to surge in Asia, Africa and Latin America in the next decade, thanks in large part to changes in lifestyle, such as poor diet and tobacco use.