More than 5.5 million Hungarians are overweight

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 01. 21. 10:56

Obesity has become one of the most significant epidemics of our time: more than 1 billion people worldwide, and several million in our country, struggle with obesity or overweight, and according to forecasts, the problem will affect more than half of the world’s population by 2035.

The most important international medical organizations consider obesity to be a chronic disease in itself, which is often beyond the control of the individual. Obesity also carries an increased risk of 200 complications and represents a serious financial burden for the healthcare system: in the order of 1,400 billion forints per year. Given that approximately one-third of the population is overweight and nearly one-quarter is obese, Hungary faces a significant public health challenge – specialists and dietitians drew attention to this at the Lilly Hungária Kft. roundtable discussion.

The consequences of obesity, now considered a chronic disease, are serious for both the individual and the community and the healthcare system – the experts stressed at the discussion, where, among others, they reviewed the most important facts and misconceptions related to obesity with the help of Prof. Dr. Béla Merkely and Prof. Dr. Nóra Hosszúfalusi. The public health crisis particularly affects our country, as the proportion of the adult population living with obesity in Hungary is the second highest in the EU (nearly 24%), so in total, approximately 2.5 million Hungarians live with significant excess weight (BMI value above 30).