Overview
- UNICEF reports obesity among 5–19-year-olds at 9.4% versus 9.2% underweight, with overweight now affecting about one in five youths worldwide after sharp increases since 2000.
- Low- and middle-income countries now carry 81% of the global overweight burden following the fastest rises over the past two decades.
- The analysis identifies ultra-processed products and aggressive promotion as key drivers, with three in four surveyed teens seeing such ads in the prior week and many saying they prompted consumption.
- Regions with the highest prevalence of overweight up to age 19 include Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, and North America.
- UNICEF calls for front-of-pack labels, taxes, marketing limits and school restrictions, citing Mexico’s new ban on sales in public schools for 34 million students and warning of annual economic costs topping $4 trillion by 2035.