Three in every four men and two in every three women will be overweight in the UK by 2030, with rates of obesity continuing to rise throughout Europe.
In some of the worst performing countries, including Ireland, the WHO predicts almost all adults will be overweight by 2030.
The UK remains in the top third of European countries for overweight and obesity. 74% of men and 64% of women will be overweight, with a body mass index of more than 25, by 2030, up from 70% and 59% respectively in 2010.
Dr Laura Webber, director of public health modelling at the UK Health Forum, who co-authored the study, to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Prague this week, said: “There needs to be a whole-society approach to this. We’d like to see greater regulation: sugar taxes for instance. People also need to know what they’re eating. Better labelling of foods and understanding what goes into processed foods is vital, as are continued reformulations of processed foods.”
Amongst the worst performing countries are Uzbekistan with 90% of men predicted to be overweight by 2030, followed by Ireland and Iceland at 89% and 88% respectively. The worst performing for women are Belgium and Bulgaria at 89% overweight by 2030.
The best performing country in the study was Holland, with less than half of men predicted to be overweight and only 8% to be obese. Rates of obesity in women in the country are also expected to drop from 13% to just 9%.