According to the World Health Organization, the obesity problem has reached epidemic proportions.

The statistics are alarming:

• Globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults, at least 300 million of them obese.
  
  
• Worldwide, 22 million children under age 5 are estimated to be overweight
  
  
• Obesity and overweight pose a major risk for chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer.
  
  (World Health Organization)

Although many think of obesity as affecting only industrialized societies, over 115 million people in developing countries are estimated to suffer from obesity-related problems. Among the affluent and the impoverished alike, the obesity epidemic is an extreme manifestation of the problem of malnutrition. Through its holistic approach—distributing wholesome vegetarian meals, providing health care for the needy, caring for orphaned and destitute children—Food for Life is joining the fight against obesity.

Studies have established the relationship between obesity and a host of life-threatening ailments, such as coronary heart disease, hypertension, type II diabetes, and certain cancers. Personal health is not the only thing that suffers, however. Obesity and obesity-related illness also create a tremendous drain on personal and national economies due to lost worker productivity and medical expenses.

A lowered rate of obesity is one of the many well documented benefits of a vegetarian diet: the rate of obesity among the general population is three times greater than among vegetarians. Through the distribution of healthy, plant-based meals, Food for Life is simultaneously fulfilling its primary mission of providing hunger relief and fighting the poverty that lies at hunger’s root.