Study: More Than 2 Billion People Worldwide Obese

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The world is gaining weight.

Obesity is skyrocketing in rich and poor nations around the world and it's affecting both adults and children.

The new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine looked at 195 countries over 25 years and covered nearly 70 million people.

Research finds 2.2 billion adults and children are now overweight or obese – 30 percent of the world's population.

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"There are a number of different chronic diseases that are related to obesity or being overweight. They include diabetes, heart disease, stroke, a number of different cancers associated with being obese or overnight, and also arthritis," said Dr. Bruce Lee, of the Global Obesity Prevention Center at Johns Hopkins.

Researchers say the finds are startling when it comes to children and young adults. The United States has the highest percentage of obese children in the world.

"All these different things like the use of more screen time, decreased physical activity, changing diets, all of these are general systems problems that are affecting the entire population, so we need to shift the frame work," said Lee.

Millions of people are dying every year from unhealthy weight, even though they are not considered obese.

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Being obese and overweight causes things like heart disease and diabetes.

The researcher showed those weight-related ailments cause an estimated 4 million deaths a year worldwide.

Egypt had the highest rate of obese adults, while Vietnam had the lowest.