NU Online News Service, April 6, 2004, 9:40 a.m. EST – Obesity is becoming a huge issue for the life insurance industry, a Swiss Re study concludes.[@@]
Recent estimates put the prevalence of profound chubbiness in the developed world at around 10% to 20% for men and 10% to 25% for women, notes Swiss Re, in Zurich. In the developing world, only around 5% are obese, but that figure is expected to swell in the future.
In the United States and United Kingdom, obesity has increased 2 to 3 times in the last 20 years, and other developed countries show similar trends.
The problem is particularly acute in the younger generation. In the U.S., the prevalence of obese children aged 6 to 11 has doubled over the past two decades.