Obesity in Europe has increased sharply over the last decade to the point where over half of the EU population is overweight or obese, according to new figures published by the European Commission.
Data collected for 19 member states of the EU reveal that in 2008/9 obesity levels ranged between 51 per cent and 69.3 per cent for men and 36.9 and 56.7 for women. The lowest levels of obesity were found in Romania (7.6 per cent for men and 8 per cent for women).
The UK had the highest levels of obesity for women at 23.9 per cent and the second highest levels of obesity for men behind Malta (24.7 per cent) at 22.1 per cent. Women had higher levels of obesity than men in eight EU member states and men had higher levels in 10 states. In one state obesity levels were the same for men and women.
In terms of overweight people, in all members states there are more overweight men than women. Obesity levels also increase with age as in all members states older groups have higher rates of obesity and a greater proportion of overweight people, though the differences are higher among women.
The data also revealed a link between education and obesity levels. In all member states, the higher the level of education, the lower the rates of obesity and overweight persons. The differences are more pronounced in women than men.
The obesity and overweight levels were measured using BMI, which determines what a normal weight should be based on a person’s height. A BMI of less than 18.5 is underweight; between 18.5 and 25 is normal; over 25 and less than 30 is overweight and over 30 is obese.
Obesity is a serious public health problem since it greatly increases the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (angina, heart attack and stroke), type II diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), coronary heart disease and certain cancers.
Last week the British Heart Foundation (BHF)said that the obesity epidemic in the UK would get worse, following its study on the eating habits of 2000 secondary school pupils. The results revealed that the average pupil consumes one fizzy drink, one chocolate bar, one packet of crisps and a bag of chewy sweets every day.
Currently one third of 11-15 year olds in the UK is obese or overweight. Maua Gillespie, head of Policy and Advocacy at BHF said:
“I’m certainly not trying to scaremonger, but the fact is childhood obesity has some really long term implications for the health of the nation. Nobody can afford to ignore the problem. It’s been shown obese children are more likely to become obese adults.”
