NEW YORK – New research from the Overseas Development Institute suggests that one third of the earth’s population is now obese or overweight, TIME reports.

According to the report, 1.46 billion people throughout the world are obese or overweight. Between 1980 and 2008, the numbers of people affected in the developing world more than tripled, from 250 million to 904 million. In high-income countries the numbers increased by 1.7 times over the same time frame.

Posing the question, “Should the world go on a diet in 2014?” the report says that the biggest increases in obesity, previously considered a problem in richer countries, are in middle-income countries and the developing world. It also suggests that increased consumption in sugar and fat are at the crux of the problem, saying that sugar and sweetener consumption has risen by more than a fifth per person globally from 1961 to 2009.

ODI’s “Future Diets” report traces how changes in diet — more fat, more meat, more sugar and bigger portions — have led to a looming health crisis. It also looks at how policymakers have tried to curb eating excesses, with mixed results.

“The growing rates of overweight and obesity in developing countries are alarming,” said ODI Research Fellow Steve Wiggins. “On current trends, globally, we will see a huge increase in the number of people suffering certain types of cancer, diabetes, strokes and heart attacks, putting an enormous burden on public healthcare systems.”