World Obesity Day 2025: Changing systems for healthier lives

World Obesity Day, 4 March 2025

For too long, responses to the obesity crisis have been focussed on individuals. This World Obesity Day, we turned our attention to the systems that are failing us.

Health systems, government systems, food systems, the media, and the environments we work and live in are all contributing to the increasing rates of obesity around the world. We must work together to call for change to these systems, and people living with obesity must lead this call.

We must also recognise obesity as a complex, and chronic disease, and one that is also a driver of other diseases. Taking action on obesity is a critical step in reducing the global burden of other chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

For World Obesity Day (WOD) 2025, we put the spotlights firmly on the systems, and were joined by members, communities, partners and allies all around the world in a joint call for transformation of our systems to build a healthier future for all!

Collective action and global engagement

Activities and events took place in all corners of the world once again, as was evident by multiple submissions to our WOD map, and stories shared across social media platforms.

Engagement this year was close to the highest we’ve experienced, with preliminary figures showing press reach of 4.1 billion, 6 million impressions on X with over 300 million across the hashtags, and over 30,000 visits to our WOD website!

Two of our initiatives launched in 2024 were promoted again this year, and we were pleased to see many people participating in Walks for WOD and illuminating monuments.

This year, we were delighted to be able to provide seed grants to support six countries in organising activities for WOD 2025:

• Zambia held its first national obesity commemoration, focusing on policy changes and healthcare improvements.
• Cameroon held WOD activities across 19 health facilities and reached over 25,000 people through screenings and advocacy, emphasising systemic change.
• South Africa hosted a community walk/run for WOD to promote the Mpilo Health Park as a hub for fitness and adolescent health.
• Uruguay focused on schools, educating stakeholders about healthy environments and nutrition.
• Nigeria organised a walk to raise awareness, provide health screenings, and foster partnerships.
• Czech Republic conducted nationwide educational events on diet, exercise, and obesity prevention.

Members, lived experience voices, partners, allies and friends took part in a wide variety of activities – here are just a few amazing stories from around the world:

There are plenty more events that took place – have a look at our WOD map and our social media accounts (X, LinkedIn, Instagram) to view more.

Shining a light on obesity and changing systems

We hosted and participated in a number of high-level events this WOD to draw attention to the systems that need to change. These included:

Our SCOPE team and Dr Ada Cuevas, Chair of the World Obesity Clinical Care Committee, held a dedicated World Obesity Day SCOPE Session on obesity and children's health on 26 February.

This insightful session had 70 attendees, and focused on childhood obesity, prevention strategies in Europe, and trends and policies on childhood obesity from Latin America and the Caribbean.

WATCH SCOPE SESSION HERE

The Global Obesity Coalition (WHO, UNICEF, and World Obesity Federation) convened voices from governments, UN agencies and civil society to preview important new data, publications and resources to help address obesity. We had 140 participants in this interesting discussion which featured a keynote talk from Peggy Vidot, Minister of Health, Seychelles.

The event also shared stories and inspired advocates globally to help ensure obesity is prioritised at the Fourth High-level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on NCDs and Mental Health.

WATCH GOC RECORDING HERE

In addition to these, members of our leadership team also presented in webinars including:

• IFSO World Obesity Day roundtable
• Rotary District 7030’s Annual District Governor Lunch Webinar for World Obesity Day
• 2025 World Obesity Day: China Obesity Prevention and Control Training
• The WHO Technical Package to Stop Obesity: A "HOW TO" approach for the obesity pandemic response

World Obesity Atlas 2025

This year’s Atlas, released on World Obesity Day, once again received extensive coverage and explored the latest data and evidence on obesity. The Atlas confirmed that there continues to be a worrying rise in obesity, with its impact increasingly being felt in middle-income countries where there will be significant implications for health systems, communities and individuals. As we head towards the UN High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in September, the Atlas’ finding that 1.6 million premature NCD deaths are linked to overweight and obesity every year reinforced the message that evidence-based action on obesity also means action on most of the world’s leading NCDs. It is clearer than ever that changing systems would result in healthier lives.

The Atlas contains new insights on the expected rise in adult obesity up to the 2030, an assessment of the extent that overweight and obesity impact ill health and premature death from leading non-communicable diseases, and a review of the existence of key obesity-related policies at a national level. 

Our findings were featured in a range of high-profile media outlets including: The Guardian, BBC Today, Devex, Reuters, EuroNews, and many more.

Download the 2025 Atlas here in English, Chinese or Brazillian Portuguese:

Inspiring stories and continued action

Through our 2025 campaign, ‘Changing Systems, Healthier Lives’, we are highlighting the critical need for systemic change across healthcare, government policies, food systems, regulations, and even urban planning - key areas that can impact both prevention and treatment worldwide.

To inspire action, we created three short videos featuring advocates and individuals with lived experience.

They offer compelling perspectives on systems change, highlighting inspiring progress in their regions, while calling for urgent action to close the gaps in obesity prevention and care. We invite you to watch and help spread their messages by re-sharing using #WOD2025 #ChangingSystems #HealthierLives - because together, our collective voice can drive meaningful change.

While World Obesity Day has officially passed, our mission of ‘Changing Systems for Healthier Lives’ continues. We must keep the momentum going - highlighting the systemic factors driving the global rise in obesity and advocating for meaningful change. This work is especially crucial as we build towards the UN High-Level Meeting in September 2025.

We encourage you to continue advocating for the systemic changes needed – please view our Advocacy Toolkit which provides guidance on how you can suppor this.