A BILLION people should be put on weight loss jabs to tackle the global obesity crisis, doctors have suggested.
One in four adults worldwide would benefit from the treatment, they say.
Flab is now a bigger threat than famine for the first time as Unicef last year confirmed more children are overweight than underweight.
The number of obese people topped one billion in 2024 and is set to double by 2050.
Analysis from Mass General Brigham hospital in Boston, US, suggests 27 per cent of adults are already fat enough to be eligible for jabs.
Study author Dr Jennifer Manne-Goehler said: “For decades we told everyone the problem was you and you need to move more and eat less.
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“These medicines have allowed us to understand that biology is much more powerful.”
Researchers analysed health records from 811,000 people in 99 countries.
They say 40 per cent should be using jabs in Europe and North America.
Other studies found one in ten Britons — five million — had had jabs or wanted to start them.
Co-author of the new study, Dr Sang Gune Yoo, added: “Given the increasing prevalence of obesity, it’s not surprising more than one quarter of adults around the world may be eligible for this medication.
“It has the potential to help many people but further research is needed to better understand its long-term safety and sustainability.”
