It’s not a small world after all.
More than a quarter billion children will be obese worldwide by 2030 — an increase that’s expected to weigh heavily on health care systems, a new study warns.
The number of tubby tots and adolescents classified as obese is projected to swell from the current 158 million globally to 250 million, according to the World Obesity Federation report.
The increase is due to a rise in belt-busting “Western-style” junk food diets, and less-active childhood lifestyles, said Tim Lobstein, one of the authors of the report.
“There’s a transition away from traditional diets and ways of doing things. People are expending less energy, becoming more sedentary and adopting a Western-style diet that’s high in sugar, oil, starch and fat,” Lobstein told CNN.
He said he was stunned by the “extraordinary increase” in projected fat kids.
Developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America — where junk food has been marketed more aggressively in recent years — are likely to see the biggest increase in overweight kids, according to the report, The Atlas of Childhood Obesity, which focuses on school-aged kids.
Overall, the U.S. is expected to have the third highest number of obese kids by 2023 — 17 million — after China and India.
A total of 26 percent of kids ages 5 to 9 will be obese in the U.S. by 2030, and roughly 24 percent of kid ages 10 to 19 will be, according to the study.
The spike in overweight kids is likely to place a super-sized burden on health care systems, given the link between obesity in adulthood and chronic diseases like diabetes, Lobstein said.
“That’s a massive leap. It will flood health systems, particularly in developing countries,” he said.