A world map of childhood obesity: More children today are obese than underweight. Which countries are worst affected?

IN SOME PARTS of the West, children of healthy weight have become the exception. In poor countries, childhood obesity is spreading faster than ever before. The problem is not new: the percentage of overweight children around the world crept up in the 1980s, as junk food became a dietary staple. But the trend today is alarming. A report by UNICEF, the United Nations’ children’s agency, published on September 10th, found that the number of school-aged children who are obese is, for the first time, higher than those who are severely undernourished (see chart 1). One-fifth of children aged 5-19 are...