Obesity rise plateaus in developed nations and accelerates in developing nations (opens in new tab)

Global reporting of obesity is commonly based on comparisons over multiple decades1 and lacks a granular and systematic analysis of its dynamics. We used 4,050 population-based studies with measured height and weight data on 232 million participants to assess the worldwide dynamics of obesity from 1980 to 2024. The rise in obesity decelerated in school-aged children and adolescents throughout the 1990s in many high-income countries, and subsequently plateaued in most at age-standardized preva...