Globesity - the Global Obesity Epidemic

While undernutrition remains a challenge, a growing global epidemic of overweight and obesity, often referred to as "globesity," is spreading across many regions of the world.

Key facts from the documentary:

• Obesity cases worldwide doubled between 1980 and 2017. By 2030, it's estimated that half the world will be obese or overweight and there could be 250 million obese children globally.
• As of now, over 2 billion people (adults and children) are overweight or obese.
• The obesity epidemic is described as the most important international health problem and is spreading in every country; not a single country has successfully halted it.
• Marketing and structural factors (availability of ultra-processed foods, pricing, advertising) are central in driving obesity, especially among lower-income populations.
• The steep rise in obesity starting in the 1980s is linked to the food industry replacing fat with processed grains and sugar after public health officials recommended reducing fat intake.
• Ultra-processed foods, heavy in sugar and starch and digested quickly, increase insulin levels, promote fat storage, decrease satiety, and thus drive overeating and weight gain.
• A handful of huge corporations (including Nestle, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Kelloggs, PepsiCo) own nearly every food brand and pull in $500 billion in annual sales.
• Highest obesity rates are seen in economically disadvantaged communities, with lack of access to fresh produce and saturation by fast food outlets and junk food advertising.
• Scientific evidence shows industry-funded studies consistently deny a link between sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity/diabetes, while independent studies overwhelmingly find clear associations.
• Sugar taxes, prominent labeling, and junk-food advertising bans have been introduced in select countries (Mexico, Chile, Peru, Uruguay), triggering measurable reductions in consumption and positive health impacts.
• Mexico's soda and junk food tax, the first in North America, led to a drop in sweetened beverage consumption.
• Chile's 2016 law, which mandated black "excessive" warning labels on products, resulted in a 25% reduction in sugary beverage purchases and led to 20% of products being reformulated with less sugar and sodium.

In Chile, food products that are high in calories, fat, sugar, or sodium are required to display black octagonal warning labels.
Image source: OpenFoodFacts.org

Sound Bytes

• Narrator, questioning the focus on personal blame - "Obesity: A blob of our era's fantasies caught in a web of prejudice. But what if obesity were a collective failure, not an individual one?"
• Expert explaining the biological limitations of dieting - "Over the long term, we know that metabolism is stronger than willpower."
• "It's these processed carbohydrates that drive weight gain."
• Expert identifying the root cause of the crisis - "What's driving the obesity epidemic? It's corporate profit."
• "The food multinationals have a secret weapon: price. The products they sell are up to 60% cheaper than fresh foods."
• "The manipulation starts with the children. Scientific studies show there is a direct link between the ads children see and the types of food they like to eat."
• "25 years ago, if I told you that I have an 18-year-old patient in my clinic with type 2 diabetes, you would have said, oh my gosh, it's incredible, it's so rare. Now it's very commonplace that young people, children, have type 2 diabetes."
• "We created labels that tell you at a glance whether the product contains excessive sugar, salt, fat or calories. In seconds, you're informed."
• "In two years after the soda tax in Mexico, consumption of sweetened beverages fell. Mexico had been the world's largest consumer of soft drinks and it went down to fourth place."
• "The whole sugar peddling mass market food industry wants to addict us to cheap empty calories that lead to chronic disease. Let's refuse to obey."