Since 2019, World Obesity has a published an annual Atlas on obesity around different themes, complementing the data collected within World Obesity’s Global Obesity Observatory. These Atlases have provided projections for child and adult obesity, highlighting how far countries are from reaching the WHO global targets on obesity. All countries are affected by obesity, and all countries are predicted to see a rise in the numbers of adults affected by obesity during the current decade.
The World Obesity Atlas 2022, launched on World Obesity Day, presents projections in men and women for 2030 including the projected prevalence for obesity and severe obesity, and revisits 2030 projections for children. Furthermore, it presents current estimates for some of the consequences of obesity, namely the impact that high body mass index (BMI) has on the number of life-years lost to disease and early death (disease-adjusted life years, DALYs).
In addition to the reporting of obesity prevalence, this Atlas presents a new Obesity-NCD Preparedness Ranking, taking into account countries’ current health system responses to NCDs and wider commitment to the implementation of prevention policies. This ranking gives an indication for how well, or poorly, countries are prepared to address the rise in obesity and to deal with the consequences. We provide summary data broken down by region as this is most
comparable. The Atlas ends with scorecards for 200 countries globally, presenting the current estimates and projections for obesity, DALYs and preparedness. These serve as a wealth of knowledge, particularly for advocacy directed at policymakers who have the power to make a difference.