World Obesity Federation alert. By 2035, every fourth person will suffer from the disease

Over a billion people already suffer from obesity, and by 2035, every fourth person (about 4 billion people) will be overweight or obese – warns the World Obesity Federation. Systemic solutions are necessary, otherwise we will not be able to cope with this greatest health challenge.

On Wednesday, March 4, World Obesity Day was celebrated. It was organized for the first time in 2015. This year it is celebrated under the slogan “8 billion reasons to change the story” and is addressed to all people in the world, because every person may be at risk of being overweight or obese. As the World Obesity Federation explains, it is about changing the approach to obesity in order to prevent and treat it more effectively.

According to the federation, over one billion people suffer from obesity. In turn, 3 billion people are overweight or obese, and by 2035, every fourth person, i.e. about 4 billion people, will struggle with them.

The economic costs of this increase dramatically from year to year. The World Obesity Federation predicts that in 2035 they will reach USD 3.23 trillion. The number of premature deaths, which can be associated with overweight and obesity, is also increasing. According to the federation, there are 1.7 million of them every year.

Overweight and obesity do not only affect adults. Children and teenagers are suffering more and more often because of them. In 2025, there were over 400 million overweight children in the world – almost five times more than in 1975. This is particularly disturbing, because overweight and obesity predispose to many other dangerous diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some cancers (e.g. colon cancer).

“Obesity does not develop in isolation,” argues the World Obesity Federation. It is systemic and is influenced by many circumstances, such as insufficient education, inadequate medical care, limited access to healthy food, stigmatization and insufficient promotion of a healthy lifestyle in society.

The Federation therefore calls on governments to implement a “whole-of-society” policy, including: on food labeling, taxation of unhealthy products and strengthening health care and implementing appropriate treatment.

Obesity is a disease, not a “lifestyle”

Obesity is a chronic and comprehensive disease, and not just the result of an inappropriate lifestyle. This is confirmed by the World Obesity Federation and medical scientific societies. Therefore, it requires an appropriate, systemic approach in which the use of appropriate therapy – mainly pharmacological and surgical (bariatric surgery) – plays a key role. Such treatment must be combined with lifestyle change, but lifestyle change cannot be the basis of therapy because it will not be effective in the long term.

– There is no miracle diet that, when used in the long term, would be successful in the treatment of obesity – says the president of the Polish Society for the Treatment of Obesity, prof. Lucyna Ostrowska. – Obesity is a chronic disease with no tendency to resolve spontaneously and requires care and effective long-term treatment.

As the specialist emphasized during the conference for journalists “Obesity disease 2025”, it is not enough to eat less and move more, because it does not work. This has been proven by numerous scientific studies.

– Nutritional therapy and increased activity are primarily about preventing obesity. The treatment itself involves the use of behavioral, nutritional, exercise and psychotherapy, and most patients also need pharmacotherapy – argues the president of the Polish Society for the Treatment of Obesity.

There are many different types of drugs to choose from, with different effects that can be adapted to many patients. However, the therapy must be long-term, maintained for at least 12 months, and adapted to the individual needs of the patient. (PAP)

Zbigniew Wojtasiński

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