--- description: A new report shows over 2 billion people are overweight or obese worldwide. title: Almost 30% of People In the World Are Obese or Overweight image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c8dea293d4d6df2/6988c1290b72e3cd166ed2f3/time-health-stock-weight.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Obesity](/tag/obesity/) ## Obesity Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Almost 30% of People In the World Are Obese or Overweight by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2017 3:00 PM CUT  Close-up of woman's feet on scale Close-up of woman's feet on scaleGetty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 12, 2017 3:00 PM CUT The global obesity epidemic continues, and a new report shows that about two billion people worldwide are overweight or obese. That’s about 30% of the world’s population. The new study, published in the [_New England Journal of Medicine_](http://www.nejm.org/ "undefined"), found that about a third of the global population—including adults and children—exceed a healthy weight. About 10% of people in the world are obese, according to the findings. Studies have linked overweight and obesity to a higher risk for health complications like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression, respiratory problems, major cancers and more. **MORE**: [9 Science-Backed Weight Loss Tips](http://time.com/4789169/weight-loss-diet-tips/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") The study authors looked at data from people in 195 countries and territories from 1980 through 2015\. They found that in 2015, there were 107 million children and 603 million adults with obesity. Having a high body mass index accounted for 4 million deaths in 2015, and more than two thirds of these deaths were from heart disease. Since 1980, obesity rates in 70 countries have doubled, the study found, and the rate of childhood obesity has increased faster in many countries than the adult obesity rate. As [TIME recently reported](http://time.com/4793832/the-weight-loss-trap/ "undefined"), several factors have contributed to the growing obesity epidemic, including greater access to fast food, larger portion sizes and ubiquitous processed food. Emerging science also suggests that chemicals from food and household products may have an effect. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4813075/obesity-overweight-weight-loss/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4813075/obesity-overweight-weight-loss/"},"headline":"Almost 30% of People In the World Are Obese or Overweight","datePublished":"2017-06-12T15:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:21:46.034Z","description":"A new report shows over 2 billion people are overweight or obese worldwide.","url":"https://time.com/4813075/obesity-overweight-weight-loss/","keywords":["Obesity","fat","Heart Disease","overweight","Weight loss","weight","how to lose weight","obese"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c8dea293d4d6df2/6988c1290b72e3cd166ed2f3/time-health-stock-weight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c8dea293d4d6df2/6988c1290b72e3cd166ed2f3/time-health-stock-weight.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"time-health-stock-weight-loss","caption":"Close-up of woman's feet on scale TIME health stock","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/obesity/","name":"Obesity"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4813075/obesity-overweight-weight-loss/","name":"Almost 30% of People In the World Are Obese or Overweight"}}]}] ```