Without drastic action, more than 220 million children could become obese by 2040, an international report warns.
By 2025, approximately 180 million children worldwide will be obese. But new figures from the World Obesity Federation suggest that by 2040, around 227 million people between the ages of five and 19 will be obese and more than 500 million will be overweight.
According to the federation’s 2026 World Obesity Atlas, this means at least 120 million school-age children have early signs of chronic disease caused by high body mass index (BMI).
A BMI of 30 or above is classified as obese, and a BMI of 25 or above is classified as overweight.
Johanna Ralston, chief executive of the World Obesity Federation, said the rise in childhood obesity worldwide showed that people were not taking the disease seriously. “It is not right to expose a generation to obesity and the chronic and potentially fatal non-communicable diseases that accompany it,” she says.
According to the report, 27 million people ages 5 to 19 in the United States have a high BMI, second only to China (62 million) and India (41 million). This equates to 2 out of 5 children in the United States being obese or overweight.
Around 3.8 million children in the UK have a high BMI, a record number, and the UK has almost twice as many overweight and obese children as France or Italy, making it one of the worst performing countries in Europe.
The report estimates that by 2040, 370,000 children aged five to 19 in the UK will show signs of cardiovascular disease and 271,000 will show signs of high blood pressure.
The report reveals significant inequalities in the region. The 10 countries where more than half of school-age children are overweight or obese are all in the Western Pacific region or the Americas, and the fastest growth in obesity rates is primarily in low- and middle-income countries.
The report calls for more efforts to create a healthier environment, including a sugar tax, limits on junk food advertising and policies to help children lead more active lives.
Experts around the world welcomed the findings. Dr Kremlin Wickremesinghe, World Health Organization Europe’s regional advisor on nutrition, physical activity and obesity, said childhood obesity was an “environmental failure”.
Rather than being voluntary, he called for marketing restrictions and mandatory front-of-pack labeling. “The majority of governments, including many in Europe, allow the food industry to target children without restriction,” he said. “What we need is the political will to take action and stand up to industry interference.”
Kathryn Jenner, executive director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said childhood obesity is “not inevitable.” “The predicted increases in early signs of heart disease and high blood pressure should serve as a wake-up call about the long-term effects of continued government inaction,” she said.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are restricting junk food advertising on TV until 9pm and online at all times. This is expected to cut up to 7.2 billion calories a year from children’s diets. Meanwhile, local authorities have been given powerful powers to prevent fast food restaurants from opening near schools.”
