"Obesity is everywhere: we are witnessing its globalization" - FAO chief
"Current food systems are failing to provide people with healthy food and the nutrients that are necessary for a healthy life. They are not oriented to produce healthy food, only food,", declared Jose Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General, while appealing to the leaders of G20 countries to address the interconnected problems of hunger, obesity, and climate change.
Nowadays, more than two billion people are overweight. A third of these (more than 670 million) are obese, a condition strongly associated with higher risks of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and some forms of cancer.
Projections suggest that the number of obese people in the world will very soon overtake the number of people suffering from hunger, which accounted for 821 million in 2017. This has already happened in Latin America and the Caribbean.
"While hunger is mainly circumscribed to those areas affected by conflicts or the impacts of climate change, obesity is everywhere: we are witnessing its globalization," Graziano da Silva said.
Also, the FAO Director-General mentioned the fact that support from the civil society and private sector is essential in achieving this goal. "Regulating sustainable food systems for healthy diets also needs the support of the food industry", he added.
Globally, the problem carries an exorbitant cost, estimated at $2 trillion a year (equivalent to the impact of smoking or the impact of armed conflicts) in healthcare and lost productivity.
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