Obesity
Friday, 08 Feb 2008 16:48
What is obesity?
Obesity has become one of the major challenges facing the world's health. Definitions of being overweight and obese use body mass index (BMI), which compares weight to height.
Overweight people are defined as having a BMI of over 25 while those with BMIs over 30 are defined as obese.
Waist measurements are also used as a good indicator of obesity in adults. The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that increased risk is present when the waist measurement exceeds 94cm (37 in) for men or 80cm (32 in) for women.
Key statistics
- By 2050 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women could be clinically obese.
- At the current rate obesity-related diseases will cost society an extra £45.5 billion per year.
- In 2005, 22 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women were obese, while 18 per cent of boys and girls aged two to 15 in England were classified as obese.
- About 58 per cent of type two diabetes, 21 per cent of heart disease and between eight per cent and 42 per cent of certain cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon) are linked to excess body fat.
- Obesity is responsible for 9,000 premature deaths each year in England and reduces life expectancy by nine years, on average.
(Source: Foresight, Department of Health)
Campaigns
In January 2008 the government launched a £372 million, cross-government strategy to promote healthier lives.
The obesity strategy is spearheaded by the Department of Health and Department for Children, Schools and Families. It takes a fivefold approach to the problem. The main elements are: improving the healthy growth and development of children; promoting healthier food choices; building physical activity into our lives; creating incentives for better health; and providing personalised advice and support.
For Department of Health guidance on obesity click here
Quotes
"Only change across many elements of our society will help us tackle obesity. Stocking up on food was key to survival in prehistoric times, but now with energy-dense cheap foods, labour-saving devices, motorised transport and sedentary work, obesity is rapidly becoming a consequence of modern life." Sir David King, head of the Foresight programme and government's chief scientific adviser
"There is no single solution to tackle obesity and it cannot be tackled by government action alone. We will only succeed if the problem is recognised, owned and addressed at every level and every part of society." Dawn Primarolo, health minister
"We've got stone-age genes in a 21st century environment where we've evolved where food has never really been as plentiful as it is now and we've never exercised less than we do now. So we really do need some environmental restructuring to make the whole environment less obesogenic." Dr Colin Waine, National Obesity Forum chairman
