Study Says One-in-Five in the World Will Have Obesity by 2025
The April edition of the Lancet recently published a global study showing a substantial increase in obesity over the last 35 years. There has been a 600% increase in patients with obesity between 1975 and 2014. As the rate of Obesity increases, researchers have predicted that by 2025 twenty percent of men and women will be obese. The study also found that the United States had the highest average BMI for both men and women making us the epicenter of this global epidemic. More importantly, the entire healthcare system is feeling the burden of weight related comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes.
Interestingly only 1 percent of the eligible severely obese patient population is undergoing Bariatric surgery.
It is imperative that we, as Bariatric Surgeons, work with our primary care colleagues to increase awareness, improve medical treatment, and discuss surgical options when appropriate.
