Fight against fat is a major industry
30 June 2008 | Author: Katie
In a world where more people are overweight than underfed, according to the World Health Organisation, the fight against fat has become £726 billion industry - and is set to increase to by 2012.
The main people to benefit from this is through new diet treatments and medical devices for an increasing number of gastric band operations. The market for food targeted at people trying to lose weight - and bigger clothes for those struggling to do so - will grow by more than 9 per cent annually until 2012, according to research by Credit Suisse.
Populations will grow fatter as emerging economies become wealthier. The number of obese people in China is expected to rise by 347 per cent between now and 2015 as the Chinese buy more processed food.
Obesity not only reduces lifespan but can also cause illnesses such as type 2 diabetes and heart problems. In the United States alone, obesity costs $117 billion a year in healthcare.
As waistlines expand, the market for healthy foods is growing, too. The five food categories where sales grew the most around the world in 2006 - yoghurt-based drinks, fresh soup, fresh herbs and spices, fresh fish and seafood and ready-to-eat salads - are healthy. All of these had sales growth of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent in 2006, while the overall food market grew by 0.8 per cent. Drug companies specialising in anti-obesity products are set to benefit as governments try to deal with obese populations.
Analysts believe that the most effective - and lucrative - way to combat obesity is through surgery. Patients can lose between 50 per cent and 90 per cent of their excess weight, compared with 5 per cent to 10 per cent through drugs. Allergan, which makes the Lap-Band gastric band, expects sales to rise from $220 million to $850 million by 2012. The market for gyms and fitness equipment will also expand along with our waistlines.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 4:43 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Leave a Reply
...because nobody's perfect
Search our archives
Search our news
