BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a study on Thursday that reveals the current scale of the obesity crisis within the OECD member countries.
In Germany, the obesity rate is ranked among the top ten worst and stands at 23.6 percent, behind Britain (26.9 percent) and higher than Russia (19.6 percent). America is the worst hit with the obese population at a startling 38.2 percent.
The study found that over half of the population of the OECD member countries is either overweight or obese, and the epidemic is currently affecting one in six children.
In Germany, as well as across the world, rising obesity among the youth is causing high blood pressure issues for children and young adults. The Bild reported on Wednesday that some experts estimate as much as five percent of children in Germany have blood pressure problems.
Elke Wuehl, a senior physician at the centre for Paediatrics and Youth Medicine at the Heidelberg University Hospital, told the Bild, "Every fourth child who suffers from obesity also has blood pressure issues."
