Obesity. The hottest topic of conversation since the millennia, is in my opinion, the most underreported, and misunderstood disorder in human history.

We have heard it all on the news. How obesity is a major risk factor for countless disorders. How obesity damages a person’s quality of life. However, what everyone seems to be missing, is just how serious this issue has become. Not on an individual level, because this belittles it, but on a societal level.Subscribe

As of 2024, more than one billion people are obese, with most hailing from Western nations. I won’t bother you with most statistics, I’m sure you’ve heard them all before. But there is one that stands out to me. That in 2022 there were estimated to be 159 million obese children in the world. Just think about that number. That’s more global obese children than the population of Germany, the UK, and Bulgaria combined! An insane number.

Unfortunately, this is where most people miss the point. We can all see such a high number and feel empathy for the children, as I do, but we cannot ignore the long-term impact this will have on our society.

Generation Z and Alpha, known to be the laziest, unhealthiest, most freeloading successions in the history of mankind, have entered a world in economic turmoil, compounded by the unprecedented challenges of misinformation, polarisation and mass hysteria are going to grapple the consequences of an obesity epidemic. Not an easy place to grow up in, even with unlimited access to everything they could possibly desire (might explain the freeloading).

The implications of such an epidemic extends far beyond individual concerns. Current research indicates that obese children often grow up to have lower educational attainment, higher unemployment rates, lower average wages, higher disability claims, earlier dependency, higher strain on medical systems, and most importantly, a much younger retirement age.  This is by no means a universal label, but it trends to an extremely worrying situation.

Why should this be a much greater concern? Because these are the children of our future. Their actions will echo through every aspect of society. Let’s break it down: lower educational attainment, higher unemployment rates and lower average wages all would lead into a society with reduced economic growth, increased poverty rate, poor educational cycle, inadequate retirement savings and an increased reliance on social security. All of which occurring without even touching on the healthcare costs, and individual quality of life effects.  

The cumulative impacts of these factors could result in the greatest financial challenge in human history. We would not only face an ageing population living under replacement levels, but a substantial increase in social security spending to support dependency needs. Additionally, we would need to significantly boost staffing in healthcare facilities, expand training programs, and potentially reform the pension system. How do we pay for a high expense, low productivity society? The only solution lies in taxation, debt financing and inflation manipulation.

To understand the magnitude of this issue, consider these figures. The global impact of obesity is projected to reach $4.32 trillion annually by 2035. That’s almost 3% of the global GDP! Also, in OECD countries, treating obesity-related issues accounts for 8.4% of total healthcare spending, and this doesn’t even touch the indirect costs of increased staff numbers and waiting list backlogs. Finally, the scariest statistic on offer. In 2016, chronic diseases driven by obesity account for $480.7 billion in direct healthcare costs, with an additional $1.24 trillion lost in potential productivity. This totals $1.72 trillion per year – equivalent to 9.3% of the U.S. GDP.

It’s alarming how people seem to overlook the severity of the obesity epidemic, and we haven’t even hit the tip of the iceberg. Imagine the impact when the heaviest generation are fully integrated into the workforce.

This issue demands urgent attention because if something does not change, we will face the most significant humanitarian crisis in human history.