Health authorities in the United States are warning of a health crisis of “unimaginable scale” due to rising obesity levels.
The situation is expected to start curbing increases in life expectancy by 2050 as drug-related deaths further exacerbate the situation.
The latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), says that life expectancy in the US is expected to increase from 78.3 years in 2022 to 79.9 years in 2035 and to 80.4 years in 2050.
From then, based on current projections, improvements would slow, and the US would continue to slip down the global rankings.
The IHME is forecasting that more than 260 million people will be impacted by obesity by 2050.
“The rapid decline of the US in global rankings from 2022 to 2050 rings the alarm for immediate action,” IHME report co-senior author Dr Stein Emil Vollset said.
“The US must change course and find new and better health strategies and policies that slow down the decline in future health outcomes.
“The rise in obesity and overweight rates in the US signals a public health crisis of unimaginable scale.”
Based on the projections, the US would decline from 49th place for life expectancy to 66th place by 2050.
The report says that the US was also facing “alarming trends” in death rates from drug abuse.
“From 1990 to 2021, the US recorded an 878 percent increase in the mortality rate (from 2.0 deaths to 19.5 deaths per 100,000) from drug use disorders, including from opioid use disorder, amphetamine use disorder, cocaine use disorder, and a group of other drug use disorders,” the report says.
“The death rate is forecasted to climb another 34 percent between 2022 and 2050 (from 19.9 deaths to 26.7 deaths per 100,000). That’s the highest drug use–related mortality rate in the world and more than twice as high as the second-highest country, which is Canada.”
