Report: Obesity problem goes worldwide

LONDON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Obesity rates are up worldwide, a joint U.K.-U.S. study found, with 10 percent of all the world's adults classified as obese.

Researchers at Imperial College London and Harvard University studied body mass index, cholesterol and high blood pressure data from 1980 to 2008, the BBC reported Friday.

Their results, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, found while high blood pressure and cholesterol levels fell in many developed countries, obesity generally rose worldwide.

Obesity, cholesterol and high blood pressure all increase the risk of heart disease.

In 2008, 9.8 percent of men and 13.8 percent of women in the world were obese, as compared to 4.8 percent for men and 7.9 percent for women in 1980, the study found.

Obesity rose the most among high-income countries.

As measured by body mass index, obesity rose the most in the United States between 1980 and 2008, followed by New Zealand and Australia for women and the United Kingdom and Australia for men, the report said.

Body mass index is obtained by dividing an individual's body weight in kilograms by the square of his or her height in meters.

One researcher said he was heartened by the lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels registered in higher income countries.

"It's heartening that many countries have successfully reduced blood pressure and cholesterol despite rising BMI," Harvard Professor Majid Ezzati said.

"Improved screening and treatment probably helped to lower these risk factors in high-income countries, as did using less salt and healthier, unsaturated fats."