Obesity Emerges as One of the Biggest Preventable Global Health Threats, Warns Lancet Commission
The Commission has identified 17 major threats to human health and survival, highlighting the need for coordinated action across healthcare, finance, climate, defence and technology.
- By Newsdesk
- New Delhi
- Oct 12, 2026
Obesity has emerged as one of the most significant preventable threats to global health, with effective interventions potentially averting an estimated 23.1 billion disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by 2100, according to a new assessment by the Lancet Commission on 21st Century Global Threats to Health.
The Commission has identified 17 major threats to human health and survival, highlighting the need for coordinated action across healthcare, finance, climate, defence and technology. Its findings underline how decisions made today could shape the health and well-being of populations over the coming decades.
Launched at the World Health Summit in Berlin, the assessment examines risks across 204 countries and territories. It evaluates the potential long-term health consequences of these threats and the extent to which preventive measures, stronger health systems, preparedness and innovation could reduce their impact.
Disability-adjusted life years, or DALYs, measure the years of healthy life lost due to illness, disability or premature death. The Commission’s estimates indicate the substantial health gains that could be achieved through effective measures to address obesity, making it one of the most prominent areas for preventive intervention.
Beyond obesity, the assessment identifies antimicrobial resistance (AMR), poor mental health, high blood pressure, childhood malnutrition, smoking, unhealthy ageing, income inequality and low educational attainment among the major threats. Climate change, pandemics, conventional and nuclear conflicts, and the malicious use of artificial intelligence also feature in the report.
The Commission classified a threat as catastrophic if it could account for at least one billion DALYs by 2100, provided sufficient data was available to model its potential impact and meaningful policy interventions could be undertaken. For each identified threat, researchers assessed plausible best-case and worst-case scenarios to estimate the scale of health losses that could be prevented.
Professor Christopher JL Murray, director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and co-chair of the Commission, emphasised that the findings demonstrate the magnitude of preventable health losses. He also highlighted the interconnected nature of the 17 threats, stressing that they must be addressed collectively rather than through isolated interventions.
The Commission’s findings have particular implications for India, where policymakers face the challenge of addressing multiple public health risks simultaneously. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, the World Health Organization’s inaugural chief scientist and a member of the Commission, called for a more integrated approach to long-term health planning. She noted that challenges such as obesity, childhood malnutrition, air pollution, antimicrobial resistance, mental health concerns and unhealthy ageing are also influenced by climate change.
The report further highlights the potential of coordinated climate action to reduce health risks across several areas. Limiting global warming to approximately 1.8°C, rather than allowing temperatures to rise to 4.4°C, could prevent an estimated 1.89 billion years of healthy life from being lost to factors including extreme heat and air pollution.
To address these challenges, the Commission recommends a three-pronged strategy centred on strengthening preparedness, investing in scientific and technological breakthroughs, and systematically monitoring emerging threats. The proposed approach includes building health systems equipped for prevention and crisis response, supporting advances in vaccines, antibiotics, obesity treatments and climate technologies, and conducting regular, independent assessments of global risks.
The assessment calls for a shift towards forward-looking policymaking that recognises the connections between health, environmental and socioeconomic challenges. By prioritising prevention, improving preparedness and directing investments towards effective interventions, governments could significantly reduce the long-term health burden associated with these threats.
The findings reinforce the importance of sustained, cross-sector collaboration to safeguard public health and minimise preventable losses of healthy life by the end of the century.