Exposure to ultra-processed foods blamed for obesity among children

The abdominal girth of a morbidly obese woman is measured as part of the Obesity Therapy Program at Leipzig University Hospital.[AFP]

A new report has blamed the high rate of obesity among school-going children on exposure to ultra-processed foods.

The report by UNICEF reveals that for the first time, obesity surpassed underweight as the more prevalent form of malnutrition this year, affecting 1 in 10, or 188 million school-aged children and adolescents, placing them at risk of life-threatening disease.