If trends continue, 89 percent of Irish men will be considered overweight by 2030 an nearly half will be obese. A study from the World Health Organization published Wednesday cautioned of a European crisis in obesity “of enormous proportions.” For the women of Ireland, 85 percent will likely be overweight by 2030 and 57 percent obese.

Ireland is one of Europe’s fattest countries and the trend continues. In 2010, 74 percent of the men in Ireland were overweight and 26 percent obese.

Obesity and being overweight are one of the leading causes of preventable diseases around the world. The study of 53 countries, which coincides with a European Congress on Obesity, says that even in nations that have traditionally had a lower rate of obesity, such as Sweden, are expected to see rates increase sharply in the next fifteen years. In that country, more than 25 percent of men and 22 percent of women will be obese by 2030.

People with a body mass index (a ratio of weight to height) of 25 and higher are considered overweight and those over 30 are classified as obese.

A statement from the congress in Prague said that one third of women in the United Kingdom are now predicted to be obese by 2030. That compares with 26 percent in 2010. As for the overweight numbers, 64 percent of women and 74 percent of men will be so categorized by 2030.

The statement said that there is no evidence of a plateau in trans-European obesity is on the horizon. Other countries expected to see steep increaes in obesity include Spain, Greece, the Czech Republic and Austria.

Seventy-seven percent of men and 67 percent of women in Greece are predicted to be overweight by 2030 while amount of obese men and women in that country will more than double, by then reaching 40 per cent of the adult population.

A 2014 study from the McKinsey Global Institute said over 2.1 billion people around the world — or nearly 30 per cent of the entire human population of Earth — are now obese or overweight.