Global obesity rate doubles since 1980 to 12%

MORE than one in 10 people (11.8%) around the world are obese — double the number in 1980, research has shown.

Scientists investigating risk factors for heart disease found evidence of an obesity pandemic as more countries embrace “Western” lifestyles and diets.

In 2008, more than half a billion adults worldwide — 205 million men and 297 million women — were clinically obese.