OECD report highlights rising obesity rates in developed countries

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has issued a report highlighting that the majority of the population in the OECD area is overweight or obese. Obesity continues to increase in OECD markets, although the growth has slowed down in Canada, Korea, and Spain over the last 10 years and has relatively stabilised in Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The full report is available here.

On average, 18% of the adult population is obese in the 34 OECD member states. Mexico, New Zealand, and the US report obesity rates of over 30%, whereas, in Australia, Canada, and Chile, approximately 25% of the population is obese. Conversely, lower obesity rates have been reported in Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, and China, where obesity rates are below 5% of the population. Meanwhile, obesity among children has been growing steadily since 2000, with peaks in some OECD countries. Obesity rates in the population aged 3–17 has reached 30% in Greece, Italy, and the US.

Furthermore, the OECD has provided new evidence in support of the argument that socio-economic determinants significantly affect the spread of obesity. In fact, the report shows that population cohorts with lower socio-economic status (SES) and lower levels of education are more prone to obesity, compared with higher SES segments in the majority of OECD countries. The gap is larger for women.

Policies to reduce spread of obesity

OECD countries have adopted a number of policies aimed at tackling obesity. Policies introduced include financial incentives attached to wellbeing objectives, taxes levied on "unhealthy" food, food labelling, and stricter regulation on food advertisements. In the US, Medicare co-payments can be lifted in a number of states when enrollees meet specific wellness targets. In the UK, the government sets targets that are implemented by a multi-stakeholder platform, as laid out by the Public Health Responsibility Deal rollout in 2011. Furthermore, Mexico has recently introduced an 8% tax on food with an energy content exceeding 275 Kcal per 100 grams, and MXN1 (USD0.08) per litre on sugar-sweetened beverages. A similar tax is levied in a number of countries – such as Denmark, Finland, France, and Hungary – on alimentary products. Meanwhile, the European Union has adopted a Directive in 2011 that makes food labelling compulsory in its member states. The 28 EU member states are required to translate into national law by 2016 provisions that make compulsory for food industry to indicate energy, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugars, proteins, and salt as guideline daily amount (GDA). By the same token, the US government has proposed to adopt food nutrition labels for food commercialised in the US. Finally, regulations on food advertising, in particular to protect children, have also become more stringent. Advertisement of unhealthy food and beverages is banned from television in Mexico during certain hours of the day to reduce exposure to children. Similarly, Iceland and Norway have restricted broadcast of advertisement of unhealthy alimentary products in programmes targeted at children.

Outlook and implications

Obesity represents a major risk determinant for a number of non-communicable diseases. In particular, as underlined by the World Health Organization, overweight and obesity rates are related to the incidence of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Awareness of the risks of obesity appears to have been increased among OECD member states, since a number of policies have been introduced to reduce the spread of obesity among the population. Positive effects of policies aimed at reducing obesity have been reported by the OECD, which shows, for example, that taxes levied on unhealthy food have reduced consumption, with declines of 27% in sales reported in Hungary and consumption reduction of 10–15% reported in Denmark.

Furthermore, obesity is also responsible for increases in the overall health expenditure by 1–3% in a number of OECD countries. It may be essential, therefore, for countries, in particular markets suffering from economic recession, to evaluate the benefits of the introduction of health policies aimed at reducing obesity and preventing the occurrence of non-communicable diseases. Attention should be directed, in particular, among the less educated and lower socio-economic segment of the population that appear to be more likely to face the risk of being overweight and obese.