A new report released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has highlighted what it describes as the 'alarming rate' at which an obesity epidemic is spreading across economically developed nations.
According to the organisation, changes in food supply and eating habits combined with a dramatic fall in physical activity has led to half of the adults in OECD countries being overweight, with one in six adults now obese.
Rates of obesity are highest in the US, with two-thirds of the country's adults overweight or obese, with the country leading Australia and the UK in terms of obesity growth rates.
The rate of overweight growth is expected to grow further, at around 1 per cent per year for the next decade in some countries, with the OECD calling for action to be taken.
'Cooperation between governments and the private sector is key to the success of combating obesity,' the OECD noted. 'A prevention strategy combining health promotion campaigns, government regulation and family doctors counselling their obese patients would avoid hundreds of thousands of deaths from chronic diseases every year.
'It would cost from US$10-US$30 per person, depending on the country,' the organisation calculated. 'Failure would impose heavy burdens on future generations.'
