In Waistlines of the World: the Effect of Information and Communications Technology on Obesity, institute researchers establish a direct connection between spikes in technology adoption and subsequent increases in obesity rates. The report charts the dramatic rise in obesity in 27 OECD countries.
According to the report, the US tops the global list with 33.8% of its adults obese, followed by Mexico (30%), New Zealand (26.5%), Australia (24.6%) and Canada (24.2%).
Other countries are catching up fast: while US obesity rates rose by 45% from 1991 – 2008, rates in the UK went up 64.5%.
Rates in rapidly developing countries are rising quickly as well. For instance, China’s obesity rate more than doubled from 2002 to 2008, from 2.5-5.7%.
The human and economic cost for the increasing weight of the world is high. Obesity in particular, and being overweight in general, are triggers for disability and many chronic diseases, with obesity being the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. In the US, the medical-cost burden due to obesity climbed to 9.1% of annual medical spending in 2006, from 6.5% in 1998.
The causes for the obesity bulge are various, but the Milken Institute researchers chart the effect that the worldwide transition toward an information-based economy has had on work habits and lifestyle.
The study also found that in countries with high ICT investment rates, a one percentage point increase in the number of physically active people can prevent a 0.2% rise in obesity.
Source: Milken Institute
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