Health
For the first time, there are more children in the world who are obese than underweight
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For the first time in history, more children are obese than underweight, a shift UNICEF says is putting millions of kids at risk of life-threatening disease.
The UN agency’s analysis, which covered data from more than 190 countries between 2000 and 2022 and projections since, found that one in 10 school-aged kids — about 188 million worldwide — is obese under World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
Meanwhile, one in five children under 19 years old globally – or 391 million – is overweight. Kids are considered overweight if they carry excess weight for their age, sex and height, while obesity is a more severe form that greatly increases the risk of serious health problems later in life.
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Between 2000 and 2022, global obesity rates among those aged five to 19 more than tripled, jumping from 3% to 9.4%. During the same period, the prevalence of underweight children fell from nearly 13% to 9.2%.
One in 10 children globally is living with obesity, putting them at risk of life-threatening diseases. (iStock)
“When we talk about malnutrition, we are no longer just talking about underweight children,” UNICEF executive director Catherine Russell said in a press release.
“Ultra-processed food is increasingly replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a time when nutrition plays a critical role in children’s growth, cognitive development and mental health,” she warned.
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While undernutrition is still a significant problem, obesity is now more common almost everywhere except South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
The report highlights obesity hotspots and found that levels have doubled since the 2000s, especially in low- and middle-income countries, even as they still struggle with undernutrition. In small Pacific Island nations like Niue and the Cook Islands, nearly 40% of young people are obese.
Children still face malnutrition in the form of being both underweight and overweight, according to UNICEF. (iStock)
Meanwhile, in wealthier countries, where ultra-processed foods make up more than half of adolescents’ calories, high levels of obesity persist. Twenty-seven percent of five-to-19-year-olds in Chile are living with obesity, while rates in the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates stand at 21%.
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In wealthier nations such as the U.S., doctors are increasingly backing the use of new weight-loss drugs in teenagers as a tool to combat the crisis.
“Obesity is not a failure of parents or children. It’s the result of toxic food environments,” author, professor and UNICEF backer Chris Van Tulleken told Reuters.
Obesity leads to a higher risk of developing insulin resistance and high blood pressure, as well as life-threatening diseases later in life, including Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, according to the report.
Obesity has now surpassed underweight as the most common form of malnutrition among young kids, UNICEF warns. (iStock)
In addition to ultra-processed foods, especially those high in salt, sugar and fat, experts blame the aggressive marketing of junk food.
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A survey of 64,000 young people conducted by the agency in 170 countries revealed that 75% had seen ads for sugary drinks, snacks or fast food in the prior week. Even in conflict zones, 68% reported being exposed to this kind of advertising. Sixty-five percent of respondents in low-income countries were exposed to them, too, including at school, on social media, at sporting events and in cartoons.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. this week unveiled the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report on childhood health, which warns that ultra-processed foods, sedentary behavior and a host of environmental and dietary factors are fueling rising obesity and chronic disease in American children.
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It said the administration would explore the development of potential industry guidelines to limit direct advertising of unhealthy foods to children.
UNICEF is urging governments to take swift action on unhealthy food environments. (iStock)
UNICEF is urging governments worldwide to urgently impose restrictions on junk food marketing and ban unhealthy products in schools.
In Mexico, where childhood and adolescent obesity is common and sugary drinks and ultra-processed foods account for 40% of kids’ daily calories, the government recently banned the sale and distribution of ultra-processed foods and items high in salt, sugar and fat in public schools, UNICEF noted.
The agency warned that without swift action, the trend threatens to fuel a surge in diabetes, heart disease and other serious health problems among the next generation.
Health
Cruise ship linked to deadly Hantavirus outbreak arrives off Tenerife as passenger evacuation begins
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The cruise ship linked to a deadly Hantavirus outbreak arrived early Sunday off the Spanish island of Tenerife, where passengers began to evacuate and fly to their home countries.
Passengers are being tested by Spanish health authorities to ensure they are asymptomatic before being transported ashore in small boats, Spanish officials said, according to Reuters.
Spanish health authorities confirmed that the first plane carrying the Spanish passengers has departed for a military hospital in Madrid, where they will be under quarantine.
The 17 Americans aboard the MV Hondius will be flown to a medical center in Nebraska after health officials allow them to disembark.
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The cruise ship MV Hondius arrives at the port of Granadilla de Abona after being affected by a Hantavirus outbreak, in Tenerife, Spain, May 10, 2026. (REUTERS/Hannah McKay)
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official told ABC News on Saturday morning that federal officials currently do not plan to mandate quarantine when the American passengers arrive in Nebraska.
They will instead be screened upon arrival in the U.S. and either stay briefly at Nebraska’s National Quarantine Unit or return home to monitor for symptoms for 42 days while staying in contact with local health authorities, the official said.
The ship set course for Spain on Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde after the WHO and European Union requested assistance in managing the outbreak.
The ship’s arrival comes hours after World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived on the island.
The WHO said Friday that eight people aboard the ship had fallen ill, including three who died. Six cases have been confirmed, with two others suspected.
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A cruise ship linked to a Hantavirus outbreak anchored near the Spanish island of Tenerife ahead of a planned evacuation. (REUTERS/Hannah McKay)
In a statement Saturday, Ghebreyesus said the public health risk remains low.
“I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word ‘outbreak’ and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest,” he said.
“The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment. But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID-19. The current public health risk from Hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now,” he continued.
ARGENTINA INVESTIGATORS ZERO IN ON POSSIBLE ORIGIN POINT OF HANTAVIRUS IN DEADLY CRUISE OUTBREAK
A police boat operates next to the cruise ship MV Hondius at the port of Granadilla de Abona after being affected by a hantavirus outbreak, in Tenerife, Spain, May 10, 2026. (REUTERS/Hannah McKay)
Ghebreyesus noted that the virus identified aboard the ship is the Andes strain of hantavirus, which can be severe.
“Three people have lost their lives, and our hearts go out to their families,” he wrote, reiterating that the public health risk posed by the virus remained low.
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An ambulance evacuates patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship to the airport in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
About 30 crew members are expected to remain on board as the vessel continues to the Netherlands, where it will be disinfected.
Fox News Digital’s Robert McGreevy, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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FIRST ON FOX: Eating healthy doesn’t have to be complicated, according to celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the restaurateur and owner of New York City’s new Bar Rocco – whose philosophy and cookbooks are rooted in health-conscious dieting – shared a few misconceptions about healthy eating, especially when the end goal is weight loss.
“There is no one fix, there’s no one cure for everyone,” he said. “Everyone has different needs and their weight-loss journey is going to be different. So, you really have to figure out what your problem is.”
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This could be a body composition imbalance, a lack of exercise or a generally poor diet, DiSpirito mentioned. “Figure out what will help you address those issues most quickly,” he advised.
Rocco DiSpirito recently opened Bar Rocco in New York City. The Rockefeller Center location offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. (Eric Medsker)
“Even if you’re working out, unless you’re LeBron James and burning 8,000 calories a game, there’s no way to out-train a bad diet, so at some point in our lives, we have to come to a reckoning with what we consume.”
DiSpirito says it’s “always a good idea” to start with the basics, including consuming less sugar, less alcohol, fewer processed foods and fewer processed carbs, as well as eating more protein.
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The chef revealed that the No. 1 issue he’s witnessed is that people have “no idea how many calories they’re consuming.”
“We’re all consuming two to three times more than we realize,” he noted. “And even when we count and use the apps, there’s a lot of fuzzy math going on.”
“So, getting a handle on how much you’re consuming, even the little picking that you do while you’re cooking and cleaning, all that counts and adds up quickly.”
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As the healthy eating movement gains traction, DiSpirito called it “very important” for most of the U.S., as the country faces an “obesity issue.”
“Restaurants are definitely thinking about it as well,” he said. “[But] I wouldn’t say restaurants are making it their [top] priority.”
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“We still have a lot of work to do just getting people in and seated and fed and their checks to them when they want. But there are some restaurants that are focused on it.”
As the healthy eating movement gains traction, DiSpirito called it “very important” for most of the U.S., as the country faces an “obesity issue.” (iStock)
Privately, DiSpirito said he has focused on providing healthy meal plans for clients.
“But for restaurants to approach healthy eating is a little difficult, because it’s a whole different kind of cooking and a [different] kind of energy,” he said.
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“Healthy eating isn’t fun – so to bring that into a fun atmosphere is kind of difficult. It’s difficult to mix the two.”
This crossroads between indulgence and health may be a tricky mix, especially among the food supply in America, DiSpirito acknowledged – but the two align more easily in other countries where the food is not tampered with, he added.
Celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito says other countries, like Italy, “don’t allow a lot of messing around with food that we allow in the United States.” (Jonathan Pushnik)
“If you go to Italy, for example, and just eat everything they eat, it feels indulgent … and it’s also very healthy,” he said. “And the key is the food supply is still natural. It’s still organic.”
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“There aren’t lots of sprayed food [or] sprayed vegetables in Italy,” DiSpirito went on. “They don’t allow a lot of messing around with food that we allow in the United States, the GMO-ing, the modifying.”
“So healthy and indulgent are not mutually exclusive, but in [our] food supply system … it’s very difficult.”
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