Over 5m children to be obese in Pakistan by 2030

The number of children living with obesity is predicted to cross five million in Pakistan by the year 2030, according to Atlas of Childhood Obesity published by the World Obesity Foundation.

According to the report, 5,412,457 children in the country, between the ages of 5-19 years, will be obese.

In the list of countries predicted to have over one million school-age children and youth living with obesity in 2030, Pakistan ranked ninth, with China, India and the United States topped the list.

At the World Health Assembly in 2013, countries agreed to control the levels of obesity. But as per the report’s findings, no country is on track to meet its set targets.

The study further adds that Pakistan has zero per cent chance, till now, of reaching its intended target of reducing obesity by 2025. There is no existence of any policies on marketing of foods to children, policies to reduce physical inactivity and unhealthy diet, it notes.

Over 250 million school-going children will be classified as obese by 2030, across the world, while there are currently 158 million children who fall in this category.