Rising Obesity in UK

Rising Incidence of Obesity in UK

Introduction

Obesity is commonly defined as severely overweight. This verbal definition is complemented by a quantitative specification of the boundaries between underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity. The World Health Organization (WHO) and most experts in this field refer to the body mass index (BMI) as a simple indicator relating the weight of an individual to his or her height. BMI is defined as the weight in kilograms (w), divided by the square of the height (h) in meters (kg/m2).The obesity is a chronic disease caused by many reasons and with many complications, is characterized by excess fat in the body and occurs when the body mass index in adults is greater than 25 units. (WHO; 2006) The causes leading to this disease are due to different factors: genetic, socioeconomic, psychological, hormonal, related to development, and reduced activity physical.

However, in children, concept of obesity is quite complicated. It is because height and weight change in children, on a continuous basis, as they grow. Therefore, applying measures of BMI directly as used with adults is less reliable (Cole et al, 2000). Also, the risks of being obese are much greater in children, if one or both parents are suffering with the problem of obesity (Medical Research Council, 2007).

More than a matter of weight, obesity is a complex disease that seriously jeopardizes the health of people, so much so that those who suffer higher rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality from medical causes. According to data provided by the Ministry of Health, nearly 66% of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension 29% and 22% of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are attributable to obesity (Ministry of Health, 2002). The total costs for medical care for this disease is estimated at 5% in developed countries and even when they are not properly quantified the psychosocial consequences in terms of guilt, depression and low self-esteem, it is known that these are considerable. (NIH, 1998) The obesity can lead to different diseases like diabetes, coronary heart disease, breast cancers and orthopaedic disorders (Kopleman, 2007). This paper addresses rising incidence of obesity in UK along with an understanding of why some people don't lose weight despite of risks of obesity. This paper also includes ways to reduce obesity and how to persuade people to lose weight.

Discussion

Rising Obesity in UK

Increasing the number of people with excess body weight takes epidemic proportions worldwide. Why is this happening? The most puzzling problem in obesity - is that this disease, which takes the dimensions of world catastrophe, by and large, is voluntary. Not always, though conscious, but always voluntary (Smith, 1999).

Within the UK, English obesity prevalence rates in adults have increased by three- to four fold since the 1980s (Canoy and Buchan, 2007). Nearly two-thirds of men and over half of all women are now overweight - and 1 out of 5 are obese (at least 30-45 pounds overweight). The level of obesity has tripled in the past 20 years, and is still rising. At this rate, it is believed ...