Energy balance
Global adult body-mass index (BMI) has significantly increased from 1975 to 2014, with obesity prevalence surpassing underweight prevalence in the majority of countries by 2014.
Global trends show that average body weight has been steadily increasing for decades. This is not a temporary fluctuation but a long-term shift. Public health efforts are currently failing to halt this rise, meaning individual efforts to maintain a healthy weight may face increasing environmental and societal headwinds.
Global age-standardised mean BMI increased from 21·7 kg/m² (95% credible interval 21·3–22·1) in 1975 to 24·2 kg/m² (24·0–24·4) in 2014 in men, and from 22·1 kg/m² (21·7–22·5) in 1975 to 24·4 kg/m² (24·2–24·6) in 2014 in women.
Why this rating
Pooled analysis of 1698 studies with 19.2 million participants.
Source
Trends in adult body-mass index in 200 countries from 1975 to 2014: a pooled analysis of 1698 population-based measurement studies with 19·2 million participants
Mariachiara Di Cesare et al. · The Lancet · 2016
DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(16)30054-x
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