Today, over 1 billion people live with obesity, including 188 million children, meaning one in eight people worldwide.
At the 10th Annual Meeting of the Friends of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), held on 25 September 2025 in New York during the High-level Week of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, world leaders re-affirmed the stark warning: obesity is not only a health issue, but a global crisis threatening economies, societies and the future of younger generations.
“Obesity is a serious public health problem, a disease and risk factor for multiple silent killers of our populations, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” said Dr Luz Maria De Regil, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the World Health Organization (WHO), in her opening address. “The burden of obesity is dramatic, and we will not see any changes in the trends unless we redouble action to reverse the trends.
"If current trends continue, more than half of the world's population is projected to be overweight or obese by 2035," warned Dr Mohamed Hassany, Head of Delegation to the 4th High-Level Meeting on NCDs and representative of Egypt, a co-host of the event alongside United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The rise in obesity rates in low-and middle-income countries is a fast-growing issue, once associated only with high-income countries.
"For the first time in history, the prevalence of childhood obesity is actually much greater than the numbers of children with underweight. In just a single generation, we've seen that the number of children living with obesity has tripled, and now we have 100 million more young lives that are at risk. When we think of obesity in childhood as an issue, we think of high-income countries, but the fact that this is happening under our watch in low- and middle-income countries is a real wake-up call," said Nita Dalmiya, Senior Nutrition Advisor at UNICEF.
“The fight against obesity must begin with children and include work in schools,” emphasized Oleg Salagay, Deputy Minister of Health of the Russian Federation. “Restrictions have been introduced on placing food vending machines which distribute potentially harmful snacks on territory of educational facilities.”
The meeting recognized 12 countries and a number of development partners that are stepping up to the challenge, with the 2025 Task Force Awards recognising work being done to prevent and manage obesity, with winners pioneering innovative multisectoral action on obesity.
Timor-Leste was celebrated for its bold fiscal measures and a comprehensive strategy. "We are taking bold action by more than doubling excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol, sweetened beverage,” said Dr Élia António de Araújo dos Reis Amaral, Minister of Health, Timor-Leste, “...and understanding the burden of NCD through the Second National Step Survey in Health Facility Monitoring, supported by WHO."
Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, Minister of Health, South Africa, shared his testimony: "In South Africa, we introduced the sugar tax. We cannot just educate the nation while allowing people to sell poison. Political courage is needed."
Portugal was recognized for becoming a pioneer in 2019 in introducing mandatory restrictions on marketing unhealthy food to children. "A sensitive step to protect the most vulnerable from commercial influence," said Dr Ana Povo, Secretary of State for Health, Portugal.
Karen Sealey, founder of the NCD Alliance in Trinidad and Tobago, shared her personal struggle: "Living with obesity is a daily challenge, similar to other addictions. For too long, we were told it was just a matter of willpower, but the reality is far more complex. We knew when we were dealing with HIV... no one had the answer. The experts were the persons who had HIV. We must be humble and recognize... we really don't know how to deal with obesity at the policy level... unless we have them tell us about the disease."
The meeting called for a coordinated global response, combining fiscal policies, food environment reforms, access to care and person-centredness.
Johanna Ralston, CEO of the World Obesity Federation, summarized: "The hole at the centre of a multisectoral plan is in the shape of a human being. The human being is the one that it has to be built around. It has to be based on the evidence and experience, the patient expertise of what it is like to live with an NCD and with obesity."
Anil Soni, CEO of the WHO Foundation, concluded: "Tackling obesity requires all of us. We must stop blaming people and start changing the systems that fuel this epidemic."
Dr Nick Banatvala, Head of the Task Force Secretariat, highlighted the challenge of obesity in his annual report on the work of the Task Force: “Stopping the rise in obesity will demand multisectoral actions that can have a more direct impact on the disease (such as food manufacturing, marketing and pricing) and others that seek to address the wider determinants of health (such as poverty reduction and urban planning). The UN system has to step up its support to Member States – and Member States must demand more from UN agencies and development partners in order to promote a whole-of-government and society response, with obesity recognized first as a societal rather than an individual responsibility”.
Related links
The full list of award winners can be found here.
The UNWebTV recording of the 10th Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Task Force is available here.
The photo gallery of the event is accessible through this link.