ISLAMABAD: World Obesity Day was observed on Tuesday with a call for a cohesive cross-sector response to the obesity crisis which is taking the whole world by storm.

As a matter of fact, obesity rates have nearly tripled since 1975 and increased almost five times in children and adolescents, affecting people of all ages from all social groups in both developed and developing countries. To draw the attention and raise awareness about the problem, Impact Research International (IRI) and School of Leadership Foundation (SoLF) held a seminar in Islamabad with online participation from across the country.

“Globally, more than one in eight person was living will obesity in 2022 and it was around 890 million adults, having the condition while 390 million children and adolescents were diagnosed overweight, and 160 million were living with obesity,” said Mariyam Irfan, Managing Director SoLF.

“The real problem is that storm of obesity is rising very fast, and engulfing our children, adolescents and adults alike. One in three people will be obese by 2034 and one in 10 will develop type-2 diabetes. We need a holistic system approach to address it,” she added.

Pakistan is no exception to the rising trend of overweight and obesity amongst children, adolescents and adults, however, children and women are the most vulnerable due to various cultural and unhealthy food promotion reasons.

World Health Organisation data indicated that 58.1pc of Pakistanis were overweight with 43.9pc classified as obese. Another estimate suggests that 72.3pc of Pakistanis are overweight with obesity affecting 58.1pc of the population.

“It is a paradox of modernity that we have better treatments and awareness about causes of various noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), but our urban structures, food and lifestyles are against the prescriptions of modern knowledge,” said Meike Siemonsma, Nutrition Officer, Unicef Pakistan.

“Since Unicef is working on better nutritious food for children and adolescents to ensure better health outcomes and to prevent NCDs in adult life, we appreciate the efforts of organising this important event. We hope it will help raise awareness and provide solid policy actions for prevention and control of obesity in Pakistan,” she added.

“The National Nutrition Survey (2018) had confirmed the prevalence of overweight among children under five almost doubled from 2011 to 2018. Similarly, obesity and overweight increased in women of reproductive age from 28pc to 38pc from 2011 to 2018, and it is being estimated around 48pc in 2024,” said Zubair Faisal Abbasi, Executive Director Impact Research International.

“There are various social causes of obesity beyond individual actions. In the absence of better food governance and effective public policies, our food system and food environment has become obesogenic,” he added.

Mishaal Khan, a consultant nutritionist, said, “Obesity is not a stand-alone problem, and it starts progressing towards co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, leading to other cardio-metabolic diseases”.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2025