World Obesity Day 2025: Changing Systems, Healthier Lives
Posted On: 4th March 2025
TDMR Europe welcomes World Obesity Day (WOD) 2025. Organised annually by the World Obesity Federation, WOD is a unified day of action that calls for a cohesive, cross-sector response to the obesity crisis.
With the theme “Changing Systems, Healthier Lives”, this year’s WOD shines a spotlight on systems, such as healthcare and government policies, that shape public health. WOD 2025 emphasises that, by working together, governments, health professionals and advocates can transform these systems and create a healthier future for all.
Echoing WOD’s 2025 theme, TDMR Europe calls on governments and public health systems across Europe to tackle obesity by considering all options available, including scientifically sound weight loss programmes that use formula diet products, such as the United Kingdom’s ‘Pathway to diabetes remission’ programmes that are delivered nation-wide in England and Scotland.
Obesity rates continue to increase rapidly
Last week the World Health Organisation’s Regional Office for Europe (WHO Europe) issued the 2024 edition of its European Health Report, which is WHO Europe’s flagship publication produced every three years by the organisation.
The report states that in 2022, in the WHO European Region, 22.6% of adults were living with obesity. This figure is well above the global average of 15.8% and the prevalence of the condition in the region has been increasing steadily over the past 50 years, with a marked increase of over 20% between the years 2006 and 2022.
Moreover, WHO Europe’s analysis of male obesity and overweight show shocking results, with the proportion of men living with either of these two conditions nearing or exceeding 70% in several countries.
Meanwhile, the World Obesity Federation estimates that the rates of overweight and obesity worldwide are set to double from 2010 to 2035, affecting 1.9 billion people, meaning 1 in 4 adults.
Obesity’s economic impact to surpass $4 trillion by 2035
According to WHO Europe, the global economic costs associated with obesity are projected to reach an alarming $3 trillion per year by 2030, while data from the World Obesity Federation show that, in 2035, obesity’s economic impact will reach $4.32 trillion. In the EU, the total cost of adult obesity, including healthcare costs and lost productivity, has been estimated at €70 billion per year.
England’s obesity management policy sets the example for the EU
In January 2025, the UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published its updated guideline on overweight and obesity management. The guideline supported the use of low and very-low energy diets (LEDs and VLEDs) to tackle obesity and overweight as well as to help people with these conditions and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) achieve remission.
NICE’s guideline follows years of scientific research showing the role of LEDs and VLEDs with formula diet products in helping people with obesity or overweight lose weight and improve their T2MD and other comorbidities. More importantly, with its Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme, the English National Health Service (NHS) has shown that these diet programmes can be used in primary care settings to reduce obesity and put T2DM into remission.
With the obesity rates in Europe hitting record high, EU policy makers need to take note of these developments and put forward public health initiatives like the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme.
TDMR Europe works to help stakeholders, such as policymakers and healthcare professionals, develop a better understanding of formula slimming foods and the role of these products in improving obesity and related diseases. Businesses and organisations in the sector interested in finding out more and supporting our work can reach out to TDMR Europe at secretariat@tdmr-europe.com.
Aris Myriskos
TDMR Europe Secretariat
PR and Media Relations Office