More than one-third of Americas are considered obese, and investors looking to capitalize on the battle to reverse that trend could find themselves well-fed.

Getting financially fat off the "globesity" fight to help overweight Americans is the latest investing thesis from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which believes global efforts to attack the problem will provide opportunities to make money.

The firm divides its recommendations across four sectors and more than 50 stocks that will benefit, particularly for those investors with longer time frames.

"Although it is difficult to accurately gauge the link between such exposure and share price performance...we still consider fighting obesity exposure an important and positive point to track, given that obesity is a sustainability megatrend with a 25-50 year lifespan," BofA equity analyst Sarbjit Nahal said in an analysis for clients.

Some 1.4 billion of the world's 7 billion residents are considered overweight, and 500 million are classified as obese, according to the World Health Organization.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 35.7 percent of the population is obese, with nine states having more than a 30 percent rate and no state under 20 percent.

Medical costs associated with obesity are currently around $150 billion a year, with those numbers only expected to climb.

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