Obesity – a wake-up call

This time of year is a relevant time to confront the population’s weight problem. Last year’s published statistics covering EU member states for men and women who were overweight, or obese, certainly should have made the populations of Malta and the UK sit up and think. The full data can be found at http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/overweight_and_obesity .

Successful weight loss is a mixture of regular, sometimes painful exercise, and regular meals- Kathryn Borg

Data is available for 19 member states. The proportion of overweight and obese people in the adult population varied in 2008/09 between 36.9 per cent and 56.7 per cent for women, and between 51 per cent and 69.3 per cent for men.

For both women and men aged 18 years and over, the lowest shares of obesity in 2008/09 were observed in Romania, Italy, Bulgaria and France. The highest proportions of obese women were recorded in the UK (23.9 per cent), Malta (21.1 per cent), Latvia (20.9 per cent) and Estonia (20.5 per cent in 2006), and of men in Malta (24.7 per cent), the UK (22.1 per cent), Hungary (21.4 per cent) and the Czech Republic (18.4 per cent).

There is no systematic difference in obesity between women and men across the member states available. The proportion of obesity was higher for women in eight member states, higher for men in 10 and equal in one.

However, for overweight there is a clear gender difference: in all member states available, the proportion of overweight men is much higher than for women. The share of overweight and obese people increases with age.

The average difference between the youngest and oldest age groups is for men around 44 per cent and for women around 53 per cent. For women there is a clear pattern in all the member states available: the older the age group, the higher the share of overweight and obese people.

For men, the pattern is a slightly different. The increase of overweight and obesity is systematic until 65. For the age group 65-74, the picture is less uniform. For seven of the member states, the highest share of overweight and obese men was recorded for the age group 65-74.

The share of overweight and obese people tends to fall with educational level. For women, the pattern is clear in all member states available: the proportion of women who are obese or overweight falls as the educational level rises.

For women, the differences between lower and upper education levels vary between 12.8 and 36.7 per cent. For men, the pattern is again slightly different. Differences are smaller and the distribution is different.

In eight of the available member states, the highest share of overweight and obese men is observed for those with the lowest educational level; in six member states for those with a medium educational level, while in four countries, it is for those with a high educational level. This information can be found in the link given above, where full graphs of the statistics can also be found.

According to the charity Diabetes UK, the number of obese adults is forecast to rise even further over the next 20 years – from 15 million to 26 million people. This will result in more than a million extra cases of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Everyone has a duty to look at themselves, their family and friends and take their health seriously by planning daily food and exercise.

There is no one diet or programme that suits everyone. We are all individuals with different lifestyles, medical backgrounds and digestive systems; everything we do must be built to our requirements.

Rapid weight loss carries considerable risk and leads to yo yo dieting. This is when the body loses weight through a strict regime of eating; when the person goes back to ‘normal’ eating the body not only regains the weight lost but adds a little bit more ‘just in case’. It is storing fat in the event of being starved again in the future.

The main underlying reason for weight gain in most people is lack of exercise, comfort eating duringn or after a trauma, or hormonal imbalance which can vary from hormonal age changes and thyroid hormones, to stress and the hormones which are released during times of great anxiety. There are, of course, other reasons for weight gain, but these are generally the most common.

The added issue is that most people are used to a ‘quick fix’ with all problems, so they tend to follow the programmes or, much publicised, promises of immediate results. Promises of weight loss in one month, lose a dress size in a week and all the other attention-grabbing headlines which make people spend hundreds of euros on products, programmes and diets that never seem to last longer than a few months.

I am not going to offer the ‘magical answer’ today. My aim is to make people aware that true, successful weight loss is a mixture of regular, sometimes painful exercise, regular meals, but not always the type of food previously consumed and certainly not a diet, and supplements to support the body while it cleanses, changes and builds up immunity.

If those who wish to lose weight cannot commit to these ‘commandments’, then they can forget a successful outcome.

kathryn@maltanet.net