Over the past 40 years the world’s population has gotten about 1.5 kilograms heavier each year, leading to an obesity epidemic. According to a study published in The Lancet, there are now roughly 640 million obese individuals around the world. The study found that not only is the number of obese people greater than ever before but that it has surpassed the number of those dangerously underweight as well. The study looked at trends in adult body mass index, which quantifies an individual’s tissue mass based on height and weight, across 200 countries between 1975 and 2014. As the following graphic shows, the U.S. in particular saw a dramatic increase from 1.6 to 13.3 percent of the population being morbidly obese whereas the portion that was underweight dwindled from 7 to 2.5 percent.
