Back to Obesity – Can We Win The Battle? Yes!

- Can we rely on BMI? No. Don’t rely on BMI (Body Mass Index - the ratio of your weight in kilos- or pounds - to the square of your height in meters – or feet)
- Is BMI enough to tell the whole story? An assessment of a person's health risk due to being overweight should also take into account the amount of lean mass or muscle, which reduces health risk, and where the fat is distributed on the body. For instance around the waist presents a higher risk than around the hips.
- Is being overweight usually a sign which proceeds being obese? Yes, this is the tendency. So everyone who is overweight, adults and children alike, should reduce weight (we emphasize FAT rather than weight) by changing to a healthy diet and doing more exercise. N.B.: We would suggest you refer to any loss being aimed at as “Fat Loss” rather than weight loss, because “weight” will include important and necessary muscle tissue.
- What is the Medical profession doing about this quote? We cannot afford to wait for this research to begin addressing the problem of overweight in our patients and in our society.
- Do you agree that with more emphasis and education on “Prevention”, we could shorten this time span? Quote - It may take decades to reverse the health threats, experts say.
- Yet another fantastic opportunity in the fight against child obesity? September 24, 2007 - The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, announced an unprecedented effort to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic by 2015. The Princeton, N.J.-based philanthropy said it plans to spend at least $500 million over the next five years on public health efforts focusing on kids and families in underserved communities. How are they doing? Can they pass on any of their studies to the obesity world?
- A mark against Fathers in the obesity war? December 17, 2007- Preschool age children may be more likely to have a higher body mass index -- an indicator of being overweight or obese -- when their fathers are either permissive or disengaged as parents, a study finding suggests.
- Does Depression and Obesity Coexist in Many Middle-Aged Women? Those 40 to 65 twice as likely to find either symptom fuels the other, study suggests
- Could the rising levels of obesity bankrupt the NHS? Yes, a British Medical Journal report warns, if left unchecked,. Experts, including government A&E tsar George Alberti and Glasgow University professor Naveed Sattar, said obesity treatment took up 9% of the NHS budget.
- Does Fast Food contribute to the obesity epidemic? A study published in the Lancet medical journal found those who frequently ate fast food gained 10 pounds more than those who did so less often, and were more than twice as likely to develop an insulin disorder linked to diabetes.
- Is this the reality regarding obesity? The World Health Organization estimates obesity has tripled in the past two decades and that one in 10 children and one in five adults will be obese in Europe and Central Asia by 2010 unless action is taken. Dr. Meera Shekar, senior nutrition specialist with the World Bank, says malnutrition slices 2 to 3 percent off gross domestic product in the hardest-hit countries, and obesity could cost the same.
- Is your waistline expanding? If you're wondering why your waistline is expanding, don't watch what you eat. Watch how you eat. Those who wolf down dinner apparently treble their risk of being overweight.
- The “Couch Potato? A British Medical Journal Online First blames the couch potato lifestyles of fast food, larger portions, TV dinners and the demise of family mealtimes for contributing to the problem.
- Do you eat until you feel full and quickly? Osaka University, Japan, carried out a study involving 3,200 Japanese men and women aged 30-69 years between 2003 and 2006.
  The group of participants who said they ate 'until full and ate quickly' had a higher body mass index or BMI, the scoring system that measures obesity levels. If you eat slowly then there is some feedback from the brain that this is enough.
  It could be that the joint impact of eating fast and until full overrides signals in the brain which would normally encourage a little more self control, which helps stop you from eating before you are full.
- You must chew your food thoroughly. Do you? The great dietary gurus of a century ago stressed the importance of chewing food for a long time and eating slowly, and those messages are even more important today.
- Do you fully understand the difference between Muscle and Fat? There is much confusion and frustration being caused by lack of knowledge as to the differences between Muscle and Fat in the Human Body. It is vital that the differences be fully understood and appreciated.
- Are you aware how alarming the financial cost of obesity is? EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told Reuters in an interview that Obesity-related illnesses are estimated to account for as much as 7 percent of healthcare costs across the 27-member bloc.
- Did you hear of the EU & EUFA Ad campaign for Exercise? The European Commission and European Soccer's Governing Body UEFA announced they were teaming up in an advertising campaign aimed at getting people, particularly children, to take up exercise.
  The campaign -- with the slogan "go on, get out of your armchair, get active" -- will be broadcast to around 100 million viewers during each Champions League match week from September until the May end of the soccer season. UEFA has given the 30-second slot for free.

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