The association between national income and adult obesity prevalence: Empirical insights into temporal patterns and moderators of the association using 40 years of data across 147 countries

Population obesity prevalence exhibits a positive relationship with national income and there is no evidence that the relationship, while weakening, actually turns negative at higher income levels ("obesity Kuznets curve"). Based on current trends, global obesity prevalence will continue to increase during 2019-2024, with the rate of growth higher in low- and middle-income countries. As most people currently live in low- and middle-income countries with rising incomes, our findings underscore the urgent societal imperatives for effective policy initiatives, especially those that target the concomitant "nutrition transition" process with economic affluence, to break or at least further weaken the positive relationship of population obesity prevalence with national income.