The consequences of obesity for adults are well known. Obesity contributes to the development of many diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and some cancers. Obesity also increases mortality from all causes, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Childhood obesity is a problem because it is an important predictor of adult obesity. Most obese adults, however, were not obese children.
Obesity also affects child health.
The risk of hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and abnormal glucose tolerance is somewhat higher among obese children. According to WHO, obesity is increasing worldwide at an alarming rate, in both developed and developing countries. WHO issued this conclusion despite the limited availability of nationally representative data and scarce information about trends. Most of these surveys focus only on preschool children and women of reproductive age and, therefore, provide limited information about obesity patterns. Levels of overweight and obesity were extremely low in South Asia.