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How Can People Become Overweight or Obese?
 

A person, with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 and above, is considered overweight. And if this person's BMI exceeds 30, then he or she is obese. BMI is a measure commonly used to find out whether a person is overweight. Dividing the weight (in kilos) by the square of height (in meters) gives the value of BMI.

The number of overweight and obese people has increased tremendously for the past decade and the so-called obesity epidemic has become a serious problem that many countries have strived to tackle.

When a person is overweight or obese, there is a very high chance that many other medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension (high blood pressure), and stroke could simply strike this person. All these chronic diseases are expected to deprive most or all of the savings of these obese or overweight victims and the burden would finally fall on the governments’ shoulder.

In the United Kingdom, it is expected that some 60 percent of men, 50 percent of women and 25 percent of children will be obese by 2050, should the current obesity growth rates continue. Meanwhile, health experts have also estimated that an additional 45.5 billion pounds per year would have to be borne by the society on the associated chronic health complications.

Overweight and obesity can be caused by many factors but most health experts have blamed over-eating (consuming more calories than the body requires) and lack of physical activities as the main culprits. In fact, smoking, ageing, pregnancy, hormone problems and medications can contribute to obesity and overweight too.

Nevertheless, according to a study released in October 2007 by Foresight in United Kingdom, people gain weight not just because of their actions like over-eating or laziness alone. Instead, it is the technological revolution during the 20th century has caused the majority of our population to become overweight or obese. Such phenomenon is unavoidable because our bodies and biological make-up cannot keep up with our surroundings.

Sponsored by the Department of Health, this 2-year-long study involved almost 250 experts and scientists aiming to find out the causes of obesity.

Unlike in prehistoric times when keeping stock on foods was essential for survival, people nowadays are spoiled with energy dense and cheap foods, labor-saving devices, motorized transport, and sedentary work. The researchers argued that these are the results of modern life that are responsible for the obesity epidemic. They predicted that it would take at least 30 years to reverse.

The British government have designed their policies to tackle obesity by encouraging people, especially children, to adopt a healthier lifestyle, to eat less fattening foods and to exercise more. In the meantime, they have already begun to step up their effort in tackling childhood obesity. Some progress has been made with improved physical activity levels at school, healthier choices of food for school children, clearer food labeling and stricter restrictions on advertising foods high in fat and sugar to children. Nevertheless, they are aware that they still need to do much more and meanwhile they have to increase their pace. Their aim is to cut the proportion of overweight children to the year of 2000’s level by 2020.

While personal responsibility is still very important, the study showed that the problem is far more complicated. To tackle obesity, it is paramount that changes should be carried out across many elements of the society.

Just like tackling climate change, tackling obesity requires a series of systemic changes in society. For example, everyday's activity could be increased through the design of the built environment and transport systems. Effort should also be placed on the change in attitude to favor healthier options for both the food suppliers and consumer purchasing patterns.

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