Cans of soda are displayed in a case at Kwik Stops Liquor in San Diego, California February 13, 2014.
Cans of soda are displayed in a case at Kwik Stops Liquor in San Diego, California February 13, 2014. Reuters/Sam Hodgson

Obesity makes the global economy lose weight. The impact of obesity on the global economy works out to be $2 trillion annually, which totals up to 2.8 percent of the global GDP, according to a new McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report.

It revealed that the global cost of obesity would be "nearly equivalent to the global impact of smoking or of armed violence, war, and terrorism." But obesity is ahead of alcoholism at $1.4 trillion, illiteracy at $1.3 trillion, and climate change at $1 trillion, said the report. Obesity is not really just a "health issue" according to the reporter, Richard Dobbs, in a podcast. It is a major economic and business challenge. What is incredible is that it has almost doubled since 1980 and, according to MGI, it is only becoming worse.

About 30 percent of the world's population falls into the fat set while 50 percent is expected to get there by 2030. Meanwhile, every year, 5 percent of global deaths is linked to obesity, which is also dragging down the global economy. More than 2.1 billion in the world are "clinically obese." According to the World Health Organisation, 65 percent of the world's population is living in countries in which obesity rather than malnutrition kills.

You know what obesity is, of course. But still, for those who wish they were wrong, here are the facts. If your Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 25 and 29.9, you are considered overweight, but if your BMI is above 30, you are in that "O" category. Your bodyweight would be at least 20% higher than it should be, according to medicalnewstoday.com.

The MGI showed that obesity is caused by a more "sedentary population" nowadays. One of the reasons is that people have cultivated a lousy taste for fast food. Just sitting for long hours in an office cabin---or even in a traffic jam---could drive one to put on those pounds.

With this trajectory, almost half the world's population might turn out to be obese by 2030. While checking the plans drawn out to tackle the problem, the report confirmed that almost every effort to reduce weight will lead some savings. For instance, it will lead to lower healthcare costs to treat diseases and lead to greater productivity in the workplace. For instance, in the United Kingdom, in which government interventions "could reverse rising obesity," it will save the National Health Service almost $1.2 billion every year.

Reducing the global obesity will require more than just education and responsibility, even though these are important factors too, the researchers write. One solution to the problem will be to not let individuals to make choices, and depend on changes to the environment and society, according to the report. What is important, then, is to change the environment in many places, including restaurants that offer "default portion sizes," and devise marketing strategies that advertise their bad food. It is also important to restructure urban and educational environments, so that physical activities are given more emphasis.

The report is like the map used by 16th-century navigators, says McKinsey. While the maps were not completely accurate and many were misshapen, they could still give a chart to the sailors of the era, which is what the current MGI is planning to do, according to aol.com.