Obesity: health and economic consequences of an impending global challenge

This report, Obesity: Health and Economic Consequences of anImpending Global Challenge, is timely; it complements recent andforthcoming technical reports on this issue. It is also at the core of theWorld Bank’s Human Capital Project, which highlights the importanceof investing in people to boost economic growth. The report reviews thechanging epidemiology of overweight/obesity; current trends globallyand by region, gender, and age; the health and economic costs, andthe potential impacts of failure to address it, including on the climate;the potential effectiveness of policies and interventions; and countryexperiences and lessons learned, particularly with diet-related taxes andother preventive actions across several sectors. It puts forward a call toaction for next steps in fighting this growing challenge.