Avoid Obese!

Nearly half of UK men ‘will be obese by 2030’ and women won't be far behind

 

Almost half of British men could be obese within 20 years, according to an international study. It predicts that women will be close behind, with four in ten similarly overweight by 2030. Overall, an extra 11million Britons would be clinically obese – so fat it risks their health – taking the total to 26million.

Big problem: Almost half of British men and four in ten women could be obese within 20 years

The cost to health services of coping with obesity-linked problems would rise by £2billion a year.

 

Almost half a million more people could suffer heart disease, with nearly 700,000 extra cases of diabetes and 130,000 more cancer sufferers.

The British and American experts behind the analysis blame abundant energy-dense food, too little exercise and lack of action by policymakers.

 

They say obesity levels among men could rise from around 19 per cent to between 41 and 48 per cent.

The proportion of obese women is predicted to increase from 26 per cent to between 35 and 43 per cent.

 

A third of black women are obese compared with one in five white women and one in six Asian women. Rates among men are broadly similar. The figures, published in The Lancet medical journal, were produced by a team including Klim McPherson of Oxford University and U.S. researchers at Columbia University.

Their modelling showed that the obesity health burden would accelerate as the population aged. However, a slight reduction in average weight of around 2lbs an adult could lead to a drop of 350,000 cases of disease.

 

The experts rejected the idea that because obese people die earlier, they save the state money.

‘Without a doubt, healthcare expenditure is high for elderly people, but these costs should not be used to justify the savings of dying younger, or to suggest that obesity prevention has no benefit,’ they concluded.

 

They called for taxes on unhealthy food and the banning of food adverts aimed at children. There was no evidence that relying on the food industry to exercise responsibility – the tack adopted by the Coalition Government – would work, they argued.

 

Professor McPherson was a co-author of the Government-commissioned obesity report in 2007 that warned 60 per cent of men and half of women could be obese by 2050. The epidemiologist said ministers were hamstrung by fear of accusations that they were in favour of the ‘nanny state ‘They don’t want to be labelled with that particular insult,’ he said. ‘I think they do “get it” [the problem] but they don’t know what to do about it, and they don’t think it’s their essential responsibility.’

Mike Knapton of the British Heart Foundation said: ‘These predicted figures for obesity and heart disease in the UK are deeply worrying and show how urgently action is needed.

 

‘What we have to remember is that obesity is a normal response to our environment.

'Culturally, we’re reliant on cars, our jobs and leisure activities are increasingly sedentary and we are faced with an abundance of easily available high-energy foods. ‘Yet while we all have a role to play in tackling this problem, this research recognises that national governments are the most significant players – ahead of individuals, industry and civil society.

‘In the UK, we need our Government to take the lead and make it easier to be healthier, such as by ensuring children are fully protected from junk food marketing.’ 

Prevention: Children should be protected from junk food marketing to stop an obesity endemic in adulthood Tam Fry, of the Child Growth Foundation and spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘Children are born thin, it’s what we do to children that makes them obese. ‘Adults have choice but children can’t take informed decisions about what they’re eating. They go by taste.’

Terry Jones of the Food and Drink Federation said: ‘The Lancet fails to recognise the lengths to which the UK food and drink industry has gone to help improve the health of the nation, particularly in relation to rising obesity levels.’ Health minister Anne Milton said plans to tackle obesity would be outlined in a document later this year.

 

‘Tackling obesity is a priority for  the Government and through Change4Life, we are encouraging people to make simple changes, such as eating more fruit and vegetables, cutting down on fatty foods and being more active,’ she added. ‘If we are to find new ways of  supporting people to change their behaviour and achieve real sustained improvements in public health  we need to work with public health, voluntary and commercial organisations.’