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Report: Obesity costing the global economy $2 trillion annually

The report comes from the McKinsey Global Institute, which examined the economic impact of obesity on healthcare costs worldwide. As the report shows, obesity’s impact, at $2 trillion, is just $100 billion less than the impact of smoking and armed violence, war and terrorism. Falling behind obesity is alcoholism, which costs the world $1.4 trillion a year.

As the CBC reports, $2 trillion is no small sum — that’s 2.8 percent of the global gross domestic product.

In a podcast, Richard Dobbs, one of the report’s authors, emphasized that obesity is far more than a problem of health; it’s a challenge for businesses and world economies. According to the report, 30 percent of the world’s population — 2.1 billion people — are overweight or obese. And the authors expect that number to balloon to near half of the world’s population by 2030, if current trends continue.

The current obese population is reportedly responsible for 15 percent of total health care costs.

The report looks to get a conversation going on what world governments can do to battle obesity. It says that while the problem is complex and that a simple solution is likely not possible, disagreements on how to deal with it has hindered progress. The main problem is that as countries get richer, so do waistlines — obesity levels begin to mirror those of developed countries. An obvious example is the United States, whose obesity rates continue to rise.

The report comes around the same time as Pope Francis’s recent remarks at a conference in Rome, where he warned that world greed will destroy the world unless more is done to help feed the hungry.

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