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The rate of obesity continues to climb across the world’s most developed countries, with certain nations and groups of people such as women and the poor hit harder by the recent economic crisis, the OECD said on Tuesday.
While rates are rising as much as 3 percent a year in countries such as Australia, France, Mexico and Switzerland, they have been fairly stable in other countries such as the Unites States, Canada, Korea and Italy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in report.
A review of available data showed that the global recession that struck in 2008 forced many families in harder-hit nations to cut back spending on food, especially healthier but often more expensive options such as fruits and vegetables, in favor of cheaper, less healthy options, it said.
“The economic crisis is likely to have contributed to further growth in obesity,” OECD researchers wrote.
Although the overall rate of obesity has slowed among more economically developed countries over the past five years, “the obesity epidemic has not stopped spreading,” they added.
The new report, based on a review of data from 10 OECD countries, will be presented on Wednesday at the European Congress on Obesity in Bulgaria.
Some countries adopted policies to address obesity. Mexico created a comprehensive government strategy to address obesity last year that included awareness-raising, healthcare, regulatory and fiscal measures, the report said.
Agencies/Canadajournal
