Researchers have predicted that half the children in Australia will be obese or overweight by 2050.
The research, led by Melbourne’s Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and published in The Lancet, warns Australian children and adolescents have experienced some of the speediest transitions to obesity.
The research, released on World Obesity Day, found girls were already more likely to be obese than overweight. Researchers also said that by 2050, 2.2 million people aged five to 24 were forecast to be obese, and 1.6 million would be overweight.
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Globally, within 15 years there would be more boys (aged five to 14) with obesity than those who are overweught.
The analysis estimates the latest overweight and obesity levels and forecasts, sourched from 204 countries and territories.
It predicts one in six children and adolescents worldwide would be obese by 2050.
China, Egypt, India and the US would have the greatest number of obese children and adolescents by that year.
Lead author Jessica Kerr said if immediate five-year action plans were not developed, the future was bleak for young people.
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“Children and adolescents remain a vulnerable population within the obesity epidemic,” she said.
Experts say early prevention is essential because obesity rarely resolves after adolescence.
“Adolescent girls who are obese are a main focus if we are to avoid intergenerational transmission of obesity, chronic conditions and the dire financial and societal costs across future generations,” Kerr said.
The report’s authors are urging governments to invest strategies that reduce obesity drivers, such as food and drink, activity, lifestyle and the built environment.
They include higher taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, banning junk food advertising aimed at children and young people, and funding healthy meals in primary and secondary schools.
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