15th -19th Oct 2007
Obesity Poses a Slim Chance for Good Health. A Body Mass Index of over 30 is considered to be Obese.
World Obesity Awareness Week is celebrated from October 15th to 19th annually. This celebration assumes significance in the light of the disturbing escalation of obesity figures worldwide.
According to a recent study,
above 2.1 billion people worldwide are grappling the ill-effects of obesity.
India alone is weighed down by a whopping 97 million obese citizens. As much as India is on the road to becoming a preferred healthcare destination, it is also grappling many in-house healthcare issues in the wake of the obesity epidemic.
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Obesity Stats
World - 2.1 billion
India - 97 million
China - 12% of men
- 16% of women
USA - 35% of women
- 20% of men
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Some estimates have put a tab on the healthcare costs of developed nations as anywhere between 2- 7%. While nations are making positive strides in economic development, social profiles are also changing due to better incomes and modified lifestyles. This has also brought about a paradigm shift in eating habits, for the worse.
‘Nutritional Transition’ as it is called, adversely affects health when it exists amid a combination of high stress, longer working hours and sedentary lifestyle. Ironically, this is also being called the ‘problem of plenty’ in the industrialized world.
The sobriquet of ‘Globesity’ for Global Obesity rests uncomfortably amid the staggering statistics of people ‘blown out of proportion’. It is time for the bugle to be blown to commence the battle of the bulge!
Bursting the Obesity Bubble
The Body Mass Index calculation which employs the equation of height and weight according to a specified formula is used to indicate overweight and obesity. A body mass index of 30 or greater is considered to be obese. A BMI of 25 or more is considered to be overweight.
The ‘globesity’ statistics is alarming - In China, 12% of men and 16% of women are obese. In America, almost 35% of women and 20% of men are battling the bulge. The figures are only expected to double by 2015.
A booming economy has a flip side too! Better goods and services have unleashed a host of conveniences, leading people into an apparent comfort zone of reduced physical activity. With increase in incomes, people indulge in gastronomic delights with unflinching regularity, not worried about its repercussion on health.
As time is essence to the jet setting generation, processed foods still rule the palate, leading to expanding waistlines. Mexico is testimony to this- 58% of the population is overweight and 23% is obese.
India is not far behind, living up to its status of the ‘Diabetes Capital of the World.’ Going by the trend, there will be 30 million diabetics by 2020, experts forecast. The leading cause of diabetes is obesity, data reveals. The perpetuation of this trend is undoubtedly an ominous foreboding for some 7.63 million Indians, who might not live to see the end of 2020, mainly due to chronic diseases related to obesity.
maria Campbell health Promotion Officer acute teaching hospital Ireland