[afro-nets] Worldwide Overweight and Obesity Problem 'Staggering'

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

WORLDWIDE OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY PROBLEM "STAGGERING" - UN
HEALTH AGENCY
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New York, Sep 22 2005 10:00AM

With largely preventable obesity and overweight contributing to
more than 17 million deaths every year, the United Nations World
Health Organization WHO warned today that more than 1 billion
people worldwide are overweight and that, under current trends,
the number will increase to 1.5 billion by 2015.

"The sheer magnitude of the overweight and obesity problem is
staggering," WHO Assistant Director-General of Non-communicable
Diseases and Mental Health Catherine Le-Gal's Camus said in the
warning, issued ahead World Heart Day on 25 September.

"The rapid increase of overweight and obesity in many low and
middle income countries foretells an overwhelming chronic dis-
ease burden in these countries in the next 10 to 20 years, if
action is not taken now," she added.

Overweight and obesity, once considered a problem only in
wealthy countries, are important risk factors for cardiovascular
disease, which is the number one cause of death.

The dramatic rise in low and middle income countries is due to a
number of factors, including a global shift in diet towards in-
creased energy, fat, salt and sugar intake, and a trend towards
decreased physical activity due to the sedentary nature of mod-
ern work and transportation, and increasing urbanisation.

According to WHO estimates, more than 75 per cent of women over
the age of 30 are now overweight in countries as diverse as Bar-
bados, Egypt, Malta, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, and the
United States. Estimates are similar for men, with over 75 per
cent now overweight in, for example, Argentina, Germany, Greece,
Kuwait, New Zealand, Samoa, and the United Kingdom.

Notably, the small Western Pacific islands of Nauru and Tonga
have the highest global prevalence of overweight, with nine out
of every 10 adults overweight.

Raised body mass index is a major risk factor for heart disease,
stroke, type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. WHO esti-
mates that over the next 10 years, cardiovascular disease, pri-
marily heart disease and stroke, will increase most notably in
the regions of the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa, where car-
diovascular disease-related deaths are predicted to rise by over
25 per cent.

"The real tragedy is that overweight and obesity, and their re-
lated chronic diseases, are largely preventable," WHO Director
of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Robert Beaglehole said.
"Approximately 80 per cent of heart disease, stroke, and type 2
diabetes, and 40 per cent of cancer could be avoided through
healthy diet, regular physical activity and avoidance of tobacco
use."