UNICEF Report Shows Global Surge in Child Obesity, Urges School Nutrition Reform

The UNICEF Child Nutrition Report 2025, based on data from more than 190 countries, finds that about one in five children and adolescents aged 5‑19 worldwide are overweight and roughly 188 million are living with obesity. Around one in ten in this age group suffers from severe obesity (adiposity). Since the year 2000 the prevalence of obesity in this cohort has roughly tripled.

The report attributes the rise to intensive marketing of unhealthy foods and the easy availability of cheap, highly processed products. It calls for structural changes in the food environment, especially in schools and day‑care centres. The German company Symporo Group argues that affordable, balanced meals in kindergartens and schools can help address the problem.