January 25, 2016
The Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity presented its final report to the World Health Organization on Monday, a two-year undertaking aimed at finding solutions for combating the global trend.
The report proposes recommendations for governments aimed at helping reverse the risks, particularly targeting children ages 5 and under.
According to the report, between 1990 and 2014 the obesity rate among this age group had more than doubled – from 7.5 million to 15.5 million.
Today, an estimated 41 million children ages 5 and under are considered to be obese or overweight especially children from low- and middle-income countries.
"Many children are growing up today in environments encouraging weight gain and obesity,” the report claims, adding that obesity can impact education, and young children who are overweight are more likely to remain that way into adulthood "posing major health and economic consequences for themselves, their families and society as a whole."
Based on the latest 2014 statistics, nearly half – 48 percent – of all overweight and obese children under age 5 are from Asia, while 25 percent live in Africa.
Likewise, the number of overweight African children this age nearly doubled since 1990 from 5.4 million to 10.3 million, the report states.
Click here to read the full Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity final report and recommendations.
