Obesity Now A Major Issue In Thailand

America isn't the only country dealing with an obesity issue; new research from Mahidol University found that Thailand is now suffering more from overnutrition than undernutrition.

The study, which looks into Thailand's nutrition trends, found that continued economic growth spawned "quite alarming" obesity rates, Food Navigator reports, and now, more government programs from the National Food Committee are working on preventative measures, like nutrition education, to prevent the long-term diseases that obesity usually brings on.

Research found that the average Thai male only consumes 268 grams of produce (roughly more than 0.5 pounds) a day, with the Ministry of Public Health estimating that by 2015, Thailand will have 21 million overweight or obese residents.

Thailand isn't the only country with expanding waistlines; Mexico recently became the country with the highest obesity rate, although the United States followed closely behind. A Harvard study noted that obesity is no longer a problem solely in Western countries; it has now become a "globesity epidemic," with some 500 million adults worldwide that are considered obese. Expand that category to include overweight adults and the number jumps to 1.5 billion. Researchers estimate that if trends continue, almost 60 percent of the world's population could be overweight or obese by 2030.