Obesity in Britain – How Worse Is It?

Obesity is a health problem that is bloating away badly in the UK. In the report of the UK’s Government Office for Science (2007), they revealed a study from the “Department of Health found that 65% of males and 56% of females were overweight, and over a third of these individuals were obese”. In 2010, this number will balloon to “around 6,659,000 men will be obese (increasing from around 4,302,000 in 2003), and 1,230,000 more women will be obese compared to 2003”. Two years ago, “24 per cent of adults (aged 16 or over) in England were classified as obese. This staggering number “represents an overall increase from 15 per cent in 1993” (Information Centre for Health and Social Care, 2008).  As obesity is simply defined as “excess body fat”, the concept of excess body fat implies comparison to an ideal level of body fat associated with optimal health and longevity. Such an ideal has not been defined, however, primarily because accurate and convenient measures of body fat content are unavailable. Instead, obesity is most often defined in terms of body weight relative to height, since both height and weight are easily measured. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that recommends using Body Mass Index (BMI) “in conjunction with waist circumference as the method of measuring overweight and obesity and determining the health risks” (Information Centre for Health and Social Care, 2008).

According to Government Office for Science (2007), the onset of obesity starts out with uncontrollable weight gain, as it “occurs when energy intake (calories consumed) exceeds total daily energy expenditure for a prolonged period”. The total energy expenditure represents the sum of three factors:

1. resting energy expenditure to maintain basic body functions (approximately 60% of total daily requirements)
2. processing of food (10% of daily requirements)
3. non-resting energy expenditure, primarily in the form of physical activity (approximately 30% of total requirements).

Although obesity is definitely not “the lack of physical activity” per se, the Government Office for Science (2007) revealed that a “marked rise in obesity levels among the British population is directly due to an increasing imbalance between calories consumed and those expended”. In this case, people should address this health problem by examining “both energy intake (nutrition) and energy expenditure (physical activity)”. The complexity of body-weight regulatory mechanisms suggests that obesity is not due to a single cause but, like other chronic diseases, is multifactorial in origin. Specific inherited differences that might influence setpoints include differences in nearly every anatomic, neurologic, and biochemical factor known to affect food intake and utilisation, energy metabolism, and energy expenditure. Although excessive caloric intake might seem to be an obvious cause of obesity, it has not been possible to demonstrate that overweight individuals consume more calories (relative to body weight) than people of normal weight. However, the Information Centre for Health and Social Care (2008) still insisted that “poor diet and nutrition are recognised as major contributory risk factors for ill health and premature death”.

In solving the problem of obesity, encouraging people to have a balanced diet and have ample time for exercise should be essential. Treatment of obesity should be considered similar to that for any chronic disease. This treatment requires long-term lifestyle changes, rather than simply taking medicine for 2 weeks, as for a sore throat, or following a quick fix promoted by a popular diet plan. We often, however, view a “diet” as something one goes on temporarily, only to resume prior (typically poor) habits once satisfactory results have been achieved. It is mostly for this reason that so many people regain lost weight. In place of this, healthy, active living with dietary modifications one can live with should be the emphasis for both obese and thin people. Regular physical activity is very important for everyone, especially those who are trying to lose weight or maintain a lower body weight. With exercise, calorie burning is enhanced and therefore, it greatly complements a reduction in calorie intake for weight loss. Also, the government can do its part in labelling food products properly about calories and it should support healthy food programs in schools so that children will not be exposed to unhealthy food. Lastly, educating people about the risks attached with excess weight should be disseminated properly so that awareness will be spread out in battling the problem of obesity.

Sources:

Government Office for Science. 2007. Foresight Tackling Obesities: Future Choice.

Information Centre for Health and Social Care. 2008, January. Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England.