The obesity crisis will grow worse if no government action is taken to solve the problem, according to a report in the British medical journal The Lancet.
The Washington Post reports that the Lancet report suggests that without government action, the obesity crisis will burden healthcare systems and economies worldwide.
“Obesity is the result of people responding normally to the obesogenic environments they find themselves in,” the report states. “Support for individuals to counteract obesogenic environments will continue to be important, but the priority should be for policies to reverse the obesogenic nature of these environments.”
The report also predicted half of Americans would be obese by 2030 without government intervention, which could also cause increases in cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer. The rise in such diseases warrants the need for governments to do more before it gets worse.
“Governments have largely abdicated the responsibility for addressing obesity to individuals, the private sector, and non-governmental [organizations], yet the obesity epidemic will not be reversed without government leadership, regulation, and investment in programmes, monitoring, and research,” the report states.
