Scientists at the National University of Singapore and colleagues in the US and China have calculated that 160 million life-years were lost in 2019 due to obesity-related deaths. Research published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Using data collected in 162 countries from 2000 to 2019, the scientists found that the prevalence of all metabolic diseases – hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – was increasing.
The most significant growth was observed in high- and middle-income countries. However, regardless of these factors, the trend was the same worldwide.
The mortality rate from obesity did not change significantly. At the same time, obesity remains one of the leading causes of death in the world. Overall, humanity lost 160.2 million years of life in 2019 alone due to premature deaths.
The scientists noted that despite the fact that obesity-related deaths did not increase or even decrease (for example, in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), the increase in obesity prevalence meant the need to actively combat it in all countries.