The rising global prevalence of obesity may reverse the trend of increasing life expectancy, says Dr Anne St John.
The consultant paediatrician at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital also said the rising rates and increasingly early onset of other linked chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes might also affect mortality rates; while dietary intake had been often associated with the development of chronic non-communicable diseases.
In a Press statement on the upcoming children’s health and nutrition project to be done in primary schools, she said: “Research data supports the suggestion that the prevalence and severity of obesity and its complications will worsen and that rates of obesity-induced death will rise.
“Current estimates of the effect of eliminating obesity are based on past trends, when the prevalence was much lower,” she added. “With obesity occurring at younger ages, the children and young adults of today will carry and express obesity-related risks for more of their lifetime than previous generations have done.” (PR)
