Op-ed: The Hidden Cost of Obesity: How Agrifood Systems Can Be Part of the Solution

By Daniela Godoy G. – FAO Senior Policy Officer for Food Security and Nutrition

Obesity is a public health problem associated with the diet of populations that has increased worryingly in the last 20 years.

According to estimates from the State of Food Security in the World (SOFI) 2024, the prevalence of obesity in adults affected 881 million people in 2022, and the number is projected to climb to 1200 million people by 2030. Latin America and the Caribbean is no stranger to this problem. Currently, 141 million adults are affected by obesity, which is equivalent to an alarming 29.9% of the population. This increase means it almost doubled since 2000, when the region registered a 15.4% prevalence of this condition.

In addition, the prevalence of overweight in children under 5 years of age reaches 8.6% in the region, also above the global estimate of 5.6%.

The consequences of this problem are severe and exceed the domain of health, due to the economic costs associated with countering its effects. The 2023 World Obesity Atlas estimated that the global economic impact of overweight and obesity will be $3.3 trillion in 2030 and $4.3 trillion in 2035. These economic losses are associated with higher health care spending and reduced income and productivity linked to absenteeism, presenteeism (lower productivity at work), and early retirement or death.

Measures for the transformation of agrifood systems and the development of healthy food environments against obesity include the promotion of healthy diets and school feeding programmes, together with social protection and policies that improve food environments, which contribute to greater access to and promotion of healthy diets.

In addition, food and nutrition education, integrating communication and technologies, incorporating nutrition into the curriculum and promoting active school environments and school gardens, are the ways to raise awareness and influence changes in eating patterns. This goes hand in hand with sustainable agriculture and the supply of nutritious food, which are part of healthy diets.

These efforts are strongly supported by measures such as the development of food systems-based dietary guidelines, legal frameworks for front-of-pack nutritional labelling, and the regulation of the promotion and sale of high-calorie, high-sugar, high-fat and high-salt foods around schools.

In the face of data that eloquently show the great challenge we face, FAO remains committed to supporting the implementation of these policies in different countries by delivering evidence, good practices and recommendations aimed at transforming agri-food systems against obesity in a framework of regional cooperation.