More than 220m children will be obese by 2040 without drastic action, report warns

‘The majority of governments – including many in Europe – are allowing the food industry to target children without restriction.’ Photograph: Jo Fairey/Alamy

Without drastic action more than 220 million children could have obesity by 2040, an international report has warned.

Globally, in 2025 about 180 million children were obese. But new figures from the World Obesity Federation suggest that by 2040, about 227 million of all five- to 19-year-olds will have obesity and more than half a billion will be overweight.