Obesity, overweight, and the resulting chronic diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, …) are a global health crisis. According to the WHO, 39% of adults aged 18 and above were overweight in 2016 and 13% were obese. The majority of the world’s population lives in countries where overweight and obesity causes more deaths than malnutrition. In 2019, 38 million children aged 5 or less were overweight or obese.
Today, 1 in every 5 children is at risk of being overweight or obese by the time they enter elementary school. Worldwide, 41 million children aged 5 or less are overweight o r obese and by 2030, it is expected that 250 million children between the ages of 5 and 19 will be overweight (see links).