50% adults overweight or obese by 2050: Global study: BBC Learning English from the News

From BBC Learning English,

this is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

In this programme, 50% of adults worldwide

will be obese or overweight by 2050 –

new global study predicts.

Hello, I'm Georgie.

And I'm Neil.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines for this episode,

as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

So, let's hear more about this story.

More than half of all adults,

and a third of children, teenagers and young adults around the world

are predicted to be overweight or obese by 2050.

The findings come from a new study of global data, covering

more than 200 countries, published in The Lancet –

a well-known British medical journal.

The proportion of both men and women who are overweight or obese

has doubled since 1990.

OK, let's have our first headline.

This one is from South China Morning Post.

And it says: How global obesity epidemic is set to get a whole lot worse.

And that headline again from the South China Morning Post –

How global obesity epidemic is set to get a whole lot worse.

So, this headline says the global obesity epidemic is set to get

a whole lot worse.

'Set to' means it's about to get worse.

But we're looking at the phrase 'a whole lot'.

Neil, what can you tell us?

Well, here 'a whole lot' worse means a lot worse.

But by adding the word 'whole', it makes the description stronger

and more expressive.

It's not just a lot worse.

It's a whole lot worse.

Now, here, it's in a news headline,

but it's actually quite a common phrase to use in everyday speech.

For example, I was ill last week,

but after I rested over the weekend, I'm feeling a whole lot better.

Or I could say my lunch is so boring, I wish I'd put more spice in it.

It'd be a whole lot tastier.

Yes, OK. So, there

we've used it with comparative adjectives, better

and worse and tastier,

but we can also use it with nouns to mean a large quantity of something.

For example, this afternoon I've got a whole lot of work to do.

And when used with a noun, we add 'of' – a whole lot of, which often sounds

like 'a whole lotta' in fast speech.

So, for example, 'a whole lotta work to do'.

We've had: 'a whole lot' – very much.

For example, Layla seems a whole lot happier in her new house.

This is Learning English from The News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today, we're talking about a new global study on the increase

of overweight and obesity worldwide.

So, researchers on this study warned that if trends continue,

global rates of overweight and obese adults would increase significantly.

And that's particularly in Asia and Africa, where populations are growing.

According to the study, these regions will experience

a considerable increase in diseases related to obesity.

Experts say that if governments take urgent action now,

there is still time to prevent what they describe as "a profound tragedy".

Let's have a look at our next headline.

This one is from Wion, an Indian news site.

'Unparalleled threat' of death:

Over 50% of adults worldwide will be overweight by 2050.

Again from Wion: 'Unparalleled threat' of death:

Over 50% of adults worldwide will be overweight by 2050.

So, this headline quotes the study, which says obesity poses

an unparalleled threat of premature disease and death.

And we're looking at this word 'unparalleled'.

Yes. So, let's break it down.

You might know the word 'parallel'.

Now think about train tracks.

There are two long rails that run alongside each other and

they stay the same distance apart.

We call that 'parallel'.

Those rails are parallel.

Yes, the two track lines are the same or equal.

So, if something is unparalleled, it means

there's nothing running alongside it.

Nothing can compare – it has no equal.

And here the study says obesity is an unparalleled threat, meaning

it's a bigger or more serious danger than anything we've seen before.

You'll often see 'unparalleled' to emphasise

that something is completely unique.

For example, the athlete's performance was unparalleled

in the history of the sport.

No one compares.

And as we've seen, unparalleled can be used to describe anything unique,

whether that's positive or negative.

So, an unparalleled threat is bad, but an unparalleled performance is good.

We've had: 'unparalleled' –

there's nothing like it.

For example, I'm sad to hear about the singer's death.

Her voice was unparalleled.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about an increase in global obesity.

As we heard earlier, the study looked into obesity trends

in more than 200 countries.

In terms of raw numbers, China, India and the USA will be the countries

with the biggest populations of overweight or obese people by 2050.

And we have a headline here about obesity trends in the UK.

It's from The Sun, a newspaper in the UK.

Shocking number of Brits who will be obese by 2050 revealed in damning study.

That headline again from The Sun:

Shocking number of Brits who will be obese by 2050 revealed in damning study.

And this time we're looking at the adjective 'damning' – a damning study.

What does it mean?

Well, 'damning' comes from the word 'damn', which originally had a religious meaning

to say someone is going to suffer bad things forever, such as go to hell.

Now it has a more general meaning.

If something is damning, it shows something in a very negative way

and strongly criticises it.

So, here the study is damning because its findings are extremely negative

and suggest a big problem.

We often see the word 'damning' when something exposes something bad.

For example, a common combination is 'damning evidence'.

The politician is facing damning evidence in court.

That means the evidence is making that person look very guilty.

Now be careful with the pronunciation of 'damning'.

It's spelt d-a-m-n-i-n-g, but that first 'n' in there is silent.

You only hear the 'm' sound – 'dam-ing', not 'dam-ning'.

We've had: 'damning' – indicates something is very negative.

For example, the critic gave the film a damning review.

They said it was the worst movie of the year.

That's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

Did you know you can find a worksheet to help you practise the vocabulary

from this episode on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

And check out our brand new video series, The Pronunciation Lounge

to help you with your listening and speaking.

It also comes with a worksheet.

Find it on our website.

And don't forget to check us out

on social media – search for BBC Learning English.

Goodbye for now. Goodbye.