Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food

As van Tulleken highlights, between 1980 and 2020, the rates of obesity in the UK and US have more than doubled. This means, according to the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, that 40% of Americans and more than one quarter of British people are now obese. Meanwhile, rates of obesity for children between ages two and 17 in the US have jumped from 5% in 1980 to 18% in 2022. This pattern is even more extreme in non-Western nations. While the absolute percentages remain lower, China has seen an 8,000% increase in obesity since 1980, and Mali has seen a 1,550% increase (247). Almost everywhere, obesity is rising fast and among almost every group. Indeed, the World Obesity Federation has suggested that half of the world could be obese or overweight by 2035, with one in four people being obese.

Governments are not any closer to a solution. Van Tulleken argues that obesity exacts a huge cost on healthcare systems and the welfare and life expectancy of those who suffer from it. He also states that obesity is comorbid with other life-threatening conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. A potential critique of this is that being obese or overweight does not guarantee health issues and often correlates with healthcare discrimination: