国际英语新闻:New Zealand leading world in growing obesity rates: study

WELLINGTON, May 29 (Xinhua) -- New Zealanders are getting fatter faster than anyone else in the world, according to a global study of obesity out Thursday.

The University of Washington-led study of overweight adults and children in 188 countries found that New Zealand had the highest rate of obesity in both adults, at 29 percent, and children, 9 percent, in the Australasia region.

The Australasia region saw the largest increase globally in adult obesity from 1980 to last year, rising from 16 percent to 29 percent, and the single largest increase in adult female obesity, up from 17 percent to 30 percent, according to the report.

An estimated 2.2 million adults in New Zealand, or 66 percent, were overweight, and of these, 960,000 were obese, compared with 50 percent of adults being overweight in 1980.

Half of New Zealand's overweight women were obese and 29 percent of children were overweight or obese, up from 18 percent in 1980, said Associate Professor Tony Merriman, of New Zealand's University of Otago, a co-author of the report.

It was widely accepted that increased calorific intake from energy dense and nutrient poor processed foods was a major driver of the increasing obesity rates in New Zealand and worldwide, Merriman said in a statement.

"Decreasing levels of physical activity owing to society-wide changes in lifestyle in adults and children also contribute," he said.

Strategic and coordinated government intervention, with participation by the food industry, was necessary to tackle the problem, along with more research into genetic and environmental factors, he said.

"Obesity is widely perceived to be the fault of the individual, who lacks the will to be lean. Contrary to this view, however, overseas research has shown that obesity is a heritable neurobehavioral condition sensitive to environmental conditions," he said.