Report: More Than Half Of Population Will Be Overweight Or Obese By 2035

The world is experiencing a health crisis, and it's not COVID-19.

A new report from the World Obesity Federation projects that 51 percent of humans will be overweight or obese by 2035. Additionally, it predicts one in four people will be obese — a staggering jump from the one in seven living with obesity now.

The World Health Organization classifies overweight individuals as people with a body mass index of more than 25. Obese individuals have a BMI of over 30.

The new report found that childhood obesity is rising “particularly fast.” Rates could double among boys and increase by 125 percent among girls in the next 12 years.

New report predicts that childhood obesity rates will double by 2035. (Elena Bessonova/Getty Images)

The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the United States sits at $173 billion. And as of 2022, all 50 states have an obesity rate above 20 percent.

Just last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that more than 75 percent of Americans do not meet the agency's recommended exercise minimums.

But it's not just a United States problem. Lower income countries are also facing a rapid increase in obesity prevalence.

Of the 10 countries with the highest expected increases (for both adults and children), nine of those are from low or lower-middle income countries. All are from either Asia or Africa.

If current trends prevail, the global economic impact of overweight and obesity will reach $4.32 trillion annually by 2035. At almost 3 percent of global GDP, this is comparable to the impact of COVID in 2020.

In the report, the World Obesity Federation called for a comprehensive action plan for both treatment and prevention.

Obesity is a huge problem, no pun intended.

Why is it that as science and modern medicine advance, society as whole gets unhealthier? Probably a number of reasons.

First, healthcare is a business — and a big one at that. We saw it with COVID, as government and Big Pharma pushed masks, lockdowns and vaccines instead of educating on the importance of exercise and nutrition.

So it’s also no surprise The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends pumping your kids full of weight-loss pills. Why teach them to eat their vegetables and play outside when parents can just put money in Big Pharma's pocket?

Next, it's tough to fix a problem if you can't talk about it.

The body positivity movement has made people afraid to say that being overweight or obese is detrimental to your health. We can't even use the word "fat" without a woke mob jumping down our throats.

Why take personal responsibility for your health when you can just play the victim?

Earlier this year, Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, a member of the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory (DGA) Committee, appeared on "60 Minutes." In the interview, Stanford said obesity is simply a genetic problem.

"If you are born to parents that have obesity, you have a 50-85 percent likelihood of having the disease yourself," she said. "Even with optimal diet, exercise, sleep management and stress management."

So according to Dr. Stanford, there's just nothing we can do about it? Wait around for the Pfeizer obesity vaccine?

The DGA Committee hasn't helped in the fight against obesity.

In case you don't remember, They're the ones who gave us the Food Guide Pyramid in 1992. This handy chart taught kids throughout the 90s and early 2000s to eat 6-11 servings of bread, pasta and cereal a day. Fruits and vegetables? Eh, 2-4 is fine.

But that's not where it stops. According to a paper published in March 2022, 95 percent of the previous committee members had a conflict of interest with junk food companies and Big Pharma. The paper details how companies like Kellogg’s, Abbott, Kraft and General Mills pay off committee members to lie about what constitutes a healthy diet.

Don’t eat eggs and fruit for breakfast. Just have this delicious, sugary (name brand) cereal instead! Don’t go on a diet to lose weight. Just take some pills! Don’t exercise and take vitamins to strengthen your immune system. Just get the COVID jab!

Seeing a pattern here?

So it's no surprise that experts expect obesity rates to skyrocket.

That's why Louise Baur, president of the World Obesity Federation, said governments need to put a stop to this alarming trend. Soon.

"Governments and policymakers around the world need to do all they can to avoid passing health, social, and economic costs on to the younger generation,” she said.

"That means looking urgently at the systems and root factors that contribute to obesity and actively involving young people in the solutions. If we act together now, we have the opportunity to help billions of people in the future."

That's a great idea. But don't expect Big Pharma to hop on board. As we get fatter, so do their pockets.