Increasing global obesity to US level equates to an extra half a billion people in food energy demand

Growing levels of overweight and obesity could have the same implications for world food energy demands as an extra half a billion people living on the earth if all countries reach the current fatness profile of the United States, warns a modelling study published this week.1

People’s weight, not just population size, should be taken into account when planning how to deal with increasing pressure on the planet’s dwindling resources, say the researchers.

“Everyone accepts that population growth threatens global environmental sustainability. Our study shows that population fatness is also a major threat,” said the lead author, Ian Roberts, professor of epidemiology and public health at …