May 28, 2002
		Global Childhood Obesity on the Rise According to a study released by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), a private group based in London, obesity is becoming a global epidemic and the problem originates with junk food. Developing nations are quickly closing the gap with industrialized nations in the number of children who are overweight or obese, according to the study "We estimate that 22 million of the world's children under five are overweight or obese," said Mary Bellizzi, a researcher for the task force. Gro Harlem Brundtland, the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), focused on unhealthy consumption in her address to the WHO annual meeting in Geneva, noting that problems related to obesity, cholesterol and blood pressure among other maladies are widespread in all middle- and affluent nations. "The real drama is that they are becoming more prevalent in developing communities, where they create a double burden on top of the infectious diseases that have always afflicted poorer countries," she said. According to the IOTF, more than 25 percent of 10-year-olds in a number of countries across the world are overweight or obese. The task force claimed that 27 percent of 10-year-olds are overweight or obese, making it the third highest percentage in the world, following Malta (33 percent) and Italy (29 percent). The group also found that there were parts of Africa, for example, Morocco and Zambia, where there are more children who are overweight than malnourished. "We can't continue the soft approach of more education about food at school, and encouraging exercise," said Dr. Rafael Bengoa, of the WHO's noncommunicable diseases division. "They are important, but we need an ambitious approach to counter the very dramatic change in the last ten years, especially in developing countries."