Jeremy Laurance
The Independent
January 5, 2011
The world is facing a “population emergency” as soaring rates of obesity threaten a pandemic of cardiovascular disease, scientists have warned.
The spread of Western fast food was blamed as the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru was named as the fattest in the world. Its average Body Mass Index is between 34 and 35, 70 per cent higher than in some countries in South-east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
More than one in 10 of the world’s population is obese – more than half a billion adults – and rates have doubled since 1980. The biggest increases are in the richer nations but almost every country has seen rates rise.
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