Chronic diseases linked to obesity and overconsumption of food
are now a bigger global healthcare burden than illness and
disease caused by malnutrition, according to the most
comprehensive disease report ever produced on global health
issues. For the first time ever, diseases associated with
obesity are now more of a global health burden than lack of
nutrition, says the Global Burden of Disease report – a five
year collaborative project involving almost 500 scientists in 50
countries. “For decision makers, health-sector leaders,
researchers, and informed citizens, the GBD approach provides an
opportunity to see the big picture, to compare diseases,
injuries, and risk factors, and to understand in a given place,
time, and age-sex group what are the most important contributors
to health loss,” explain the researchers behind the project
writing in The Lancet . The project, led by the Institute for
Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of
Washington, USA, is the largest ever systematic effort to