Overview
- A Nature analysis from the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration, covering 232 million people in about 200 countries from 1980 to 2024, reports that global obesity no longer follows a single trend.
- Many wealthier countries now show slowing or stable rates, with the United States leveling after sharp rises yet remaining among the highest worldwide.
- Most low- and middle-income regions, including Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, continue to climb or even accelerate across ages and sexes.
- Latin America illustrates the split, with Brazil speeding up across all age groups (17% of girls, 18% of boys, 35% of women, 27% of men) while Mexico shows slower growth in children (16% of girls, 21% of boys) but sustained high levels in adults (43% of women, 34% of men).
- The authors say newer weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide- and tirzepatide-based treatments have not changed population trends through 2024 because uptake only began to rise in 2023 and access is unequal.