Fight Childhood Obesity to Help Prevent Diabetes, Say WHO & IDF

Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 22 million children under five years old are obese or overweight, and more than 17 million of them are in developing countries. Each of these children is at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes (which used to be known as mature-onset diabetes), say the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

Tackling childhood obesity now is a highly effective way of preventing diabetes in the future," said Dr Catherine Le Gale`s-Camus, WHO Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, in the lead-up to World Diabetes Day on 14 November 2004.

Chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke are a barrier to economic development. While undernutrition continues to be a key concern, particularly in developing countries, governments are also facing up to the fact that many children in all regions of the world have poor eating habits and are not getting enough exercise.

Globally, an estimated 10% of school-aged children, between five and 17 years old, are overweight or obese, and the situation is getting worse. In the United States, for example, the rate of obesity and overweight among children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years increased to more than 25% in the 1990s from 15% in the 1970s.

Such increases are not restricted to developed countries. In China, the rate of overweight and obesity observed in a study of urban schoolchildren increased from almost 8% in 1991 to more than 12% six years later. In Brazil, the rate of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents 6 to 18 years old more than tripled from 4% in the mid 1970s to over 13% in 1997. The link between obesity and diabetes is well-established. Around 90% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes and of these the vast majority are overweight or obese. "Overweight and obesity increase the risk of many chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers. Unless we address the underlying causes of the obesity epidemic it has the potential to overwhelm health systems throughout the world," said Dr Le Galès-Camus. "The direct health care costs of diabetes already account for between 2.5% and 15% of annual health care budgets."

WHO is working with its Member States throughout the world to implement the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, which was adopted at the May 2004 World Health Assembly.

The strategy recommends a comprehensive range of changes at the individual, community, national and international levels which, if effectively implemented, have the potential to turn around the obesity epidemic. The strategy addresses changes needed in lifestyles that have been linked to the increase in overweight and obese children over the last twenty years.