The World Health Organisation estimates say that there are one billion people in the world today that are classified as overweight or obese when using the Body Mass Index method of measurement. A BMI reading of 25 and over classifies you as overweight and a BMI reading of more than 30 means that you are obese. The BMI readings are done by using a weight and height ratio.

This obesity problem is serious in the world today with the United States and developed world countries leading the way with the most amount of obese people in their countries. The cause has been put down to many individual factors but one of them is the reason that we tend to eat more energy dense food with higher amounts of sugar and unhealthy saturated fat as well as eating less nutritiously rich food, like fresh fruit and vegetables.

Developed world nations are also known as places where people do less physical activity and this exercabates the problem and over the last 25 years the number of people having a BMI of more than 30 has gone up 3 times in the United States, the UK and also in the Middle East. The WHO is constantly monitoring the worlds' eating patterns and the surveys that they undertake point to a serious and impending obesity crisis.

The real problem with obesity is not just that the weight itself is unattractive and uncomfortable for the person who is obese but that obesity brings with it many health problems that as well as being dangerous cause a strain on a nation's health budget and lead to low levels of productivity for the country.

In the United States the WHO survey shows that black women have the highest levels of obesity related illnesses like hypertension, heart problems and strokes. As many as 70% of black women are classed as overweight or obese and this is causing a lot of poor health. It has also been noted that in developed countries very often it is the poorer people that suffer from obesity the most as their access to good nutrition is more limited.