Obesity poses big threat to world

Today, more than 2.1 billion people - nearly 30 percent of the global population - are overweight or obese. That is nearly two and a half times the number of adults and children who are undernourished. Obesity is responsible for about 5 percent of deaths worldwide.

This crisis is not just a pressing health concern; it is also a threat to the global economy. The total economic impact of obesity is about $2 trillion a year, or 2.8 percent of world GDP - roughly equivalent to the economic damage caused by smoking or armed violence, war and terrorism, according to a new research by McKinsey Global Institute.

And the problem is likely to worsen. If the current trend continues, almost half of the world's adult population will be overweight or obese by 2030.