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Global Obesity Crisis Deepens as Poverty and Inequality Fuel Unhealthy Diets

Opinion

Business Honor - Global Obesity Crisis and Inequality Impact

Business Honor
25 October, 2025

Once a rich-world problem, obesity now spreads fastest among the world’s poorest communities.

Once viewed as a problem of excess in wealthy nations, obesity is now accelerating most rapidly among the world's poorest populations, driven by poverty, bad diets, and unhealthy food environments.

Over 70 percent of those with obesity are now found in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization reports. In countries like Myanmar, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, female rates of obesity have already reached as high as 25 percent, leading to increasing cases of diabetes, hypertension, and other lifestyle illnesses.

The economic burden of obesity worldwide is staggering — close to $2 trillion in 2020 and estimated to increase to $18 trillion by 2060, accounting for 3.3 percent of global GDP. But for millions, it's not a question of too much, but of too little: access to healthy foods. For low-income families, the lowest-cost, highest-calorie products are the only ones that are within reach, while fresh vegetables and fruits are out of reach. Aid experts declare that to reverse the crisis, there is a need for systemic transformation, not individual blame. The World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization call for more forceful fiscal policies, including taxes on sweetened beverages, subsidies for healthy foods, labeling requirements, and tighter controls on marketing ultra-processed foods to children.

Social protection programs, such as school meal programs and cash transfers tied to nutrition can also enable families to afford healthier diets and reduce their dependence on processed foods. Obesity is not just a health problem anymore — it is a social justice problem driven by poverty and inequality. Without firm government intervention to transform food systems and put public health above profit, the international obesity epidemic will keep expanding — at a catastrophic cost in both lives and livelihoods.