Promoting public awareness and solutions to address overweight and obesity
In Indonesia, one in three adults, one in five children aged 5 to 12 years, and one in seven adolescents aged 13 to 18 years are overweight or obese. Despite this, there are no specific targets for childhood overweight and obesity in the national medium-term development plan, an area the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is working on. Astrid Citra Padmita, national UN Volunteer Overweight Prevention Specialist, is part of the UNICEF team raising awareness on addressing overweight and obesity.
Across the globe, there is an increasing trend in overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years. According to estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 340 million or almost 18 per cent of this age group were overweight or obese in 2016, compared to four per cent in 1975.