Thursday, January 19, 2006

Overweight or obese...

Lard bucket epidemic...


In 2001, Sir John Bourn, head of the
National Audit Office told Parliament that the prevalence of obesity in England had tripled over the last 20 years will continue to rise. Now most adults (63% men & 53% women) in England are overweight or obese.


Trends in overweight and obesity...

"About 46% of men in England and 32% of women are overweight (a body mass index of 25-30 kg/m2), and an additional 17% of men and 21% of women are obese (a body mass index of more than 30 kg/m2). Overweight and obesity increase with age. About 28% of men and 27% of women aged 16-24 are overweight or obese but 76% of men and 68% of women aged 55-64 are overweight or obese. Overweight and obesity are increasing. The percentage of adults who are obese has roughly doubled since the mid-1980's.”
I haven’t heard of Anne Collins but I think the site is a very good, clear one and if you follow the link there are dozens of other links (listed at the bottom of every page) that give full and informative view and plenty of good advice
Obesity is the excessive accumulation of adipose tissue to an extent that health is impaired...but there is a load of help out there! The extent to which one is overweight can be identified, amongst other things (body fat %, waist measurement/ waist-hip ratio, bone mass...) through the measurement of Body Mass Index or BMI. This is a simple calculation of your weight (Kg or lbs) divided the square of your height (metres sq or ins sq respectively). Or if you can’t be arsed to work it out there are plenty of sites that do it for you; here's one from the US.

As mentioned above waist circumference is another widely used measurement - to determine abdominal fat content. An excess of abdominal fat, when out of proportion to total body fat, is considered a predictor of risk factors related to obesity. Men with a waist measurement exceeding 40 inches are considered at risk. Women are at risk with a waist measurement of 35 inches or greater.

...and of course there are many factors that can cause excessive weight gain leading to obesity and poor health: Food Choices - Physical Activity vs. Sedentary Activity - Parental Obesity - Eating Patterns (skipping meals etc) - Parenting Style - Parental Eating and Physical Activity Habits - Demographic Factors that also encompass diets (Mediterranean / Asian or Oriental...) There are also a few genetic causes of the problem; however, the fact that obesity has increased so much in the last few decades appears to discount genetics as the main cause: according to Stephen O'Rahilly, professor of clinical biochemistry and medicine at Cambridge University, the influence of genetics on modern levels of obesity is insignificant:
"Nothing genetic explains the rise in obesity. We can't change our genes over 30 years."


Also, “...obesity is one of todays most blatantly visible, yet most neglected, public health problems. Paradoxically coexisting with under nutrition, an escalating global epidemic of overweight and obesity - "globesity" - is taking over many parts of the world. If immediate action is not taken, millions will suffer from an array of serious health disorders.From "Controlling the global obesity epidemic," World Health Organization


The choice is ours but we decide what our children eat…action this day!

S.O.

20 comments:

Gavin Corder said...

Oh dear. Now I feel guilty! Henceforth I shall not refer to you as a lard bucket or my ample friend.

As a peace offering I give you a picture for your post:
Lard

PS. I lied my ample friend! :-)

Span Ows said...

hahaha...great pic Gavin. All true of course.

Gavin Corder said...

Actually I think there is a genetic disposition towards fatness. My youngest has a full guage set differently to her elder siblings. But very much akin to he cousins oop north.

Actually I think her metabolism is probably the more efficient. While the rest of us stop eating when we have had enough and then wastefully burn off calories in pointless energy, her system conserves its resources and tells her to eat any and all available food.

10,000 years ago on the ice face, she'd still be trudging across the tundra, we'd all be dead. Actually if she's true to her genes, she'd have sucked the marrow out of our bones before trudging ever onwards!

Domita =) said...

Hi!!
Yes... Daniela is my friend [i think^^... and i hope ¬¬]




"To Pretend"... sometimes...
Somentimes i don't even know like i am... because of it: "To Pretend"... but, no more [i think] =D




Look after yourself...
Regards.

Span Ows said...

Hmmm...you must be onto "something" Gavin because of the difference between your youngest (presuming that's her sat down in you Christmas photos) and your 'evil one' (hmmmmmmmmm) and the cool dude in B&W...either that or your missus has something to tell you...(gulp)






(runs away!!!)


;-)

Crispin Heath said...

I completely agree with Gavin. My brother and I are completely differently shaped.

He is 6'1'' wirey and just under 11 stone and looks the spit of my maternal grandfather. So much so that a year after my grandfather died, I was at my grandmother's house wih my brother and he chose to sit in my grandfather's old chair. About an hour after we arrived I glanced over at my broher who had crossed his legs. For a split second I had the most horrible cold and hot flush, as my brain had registered my grandfather's image. Everything about my brother's posture was my gradfather, to the point where I thought I'd seen his ghost.

I on the other hand am 14 stone 7 pounds and 5'10" and exactly the same shape as my father. Since I stopped playing rugby seriously (6 times a week) I have battled with my weight for years. At one point I got up to 18 and a half stone.

Over the past couple of years I have lost 4 stone and am down to the same weight now as I was at my England rugby trial aged 18. Having said that my muscle mass is nowhere near as great and I could probably lose another stone, but frankly it's been painful getting this far and I really don't look or feel overweight.

Which brings me to my second point. My complete lack of faith in the BMI. At 14'7'' I'm currently 29.1 on the BMI scale which puts me at extremely overweight and just below obese which is frankly completely absurd. If this is the way we are measuring obesity it's absolute bollocks.

Yours - a formerly obese and spikey person

Span Ows said...

Six I agree...that is the reply I was hoping for...I knew the answer...ithe BMI is bollocks...It is a way for the doctors to scare people into losing weight; I haven't been my "ideal" weight since I was 15!!! (i.e. at 15 I was the weight they say I should be now!!!...then I was a very fit 'big' guy, also rugby player like you...also 5'10'...also 14 st 7 lb...oh no wait a sec..17st 4lb..doh! (BMI obese...about 34!!!)

But you say you were up to 18+ so I live in hope. Trouble is I also did a lot of rugby, cycling and swimming and now do zilch!!!!

Span Ows said...

Sarnia, yes I'm not sulking now...and I seem to remember you told me those details before on the MB...I think that's why I was swimming to the CI...;-)

You also said you drive around topless which added to the image until you explained you meant a cabriolet!

Span Ows said...

Hi Doma ¿que tal?...your message wasn't there last night...never mind!

No sé de que hablas sobre tu comentario y "pretend"...pero gracias por ello de todas maneras!

Saludos y un abrazo a ti y Daniela.

Span

Span Ows said...

Sarnia, what a pity they have to meet at this stage...but it will be fantastic!!! What with that and the gooners v Real it's a real bonus (I humbly admit that Arsenal will be pushing it to manage 2nd place this season) but real have been poor too so that is another beauty of a fixture!!!

Have you been to Hark and Sperm?..I mean Sark and Herm!!

Span Ows said...

Probably not and for the first leg will be away so I won't even see it on telly!...:-(

Gavin Corder said...

Hang on a minute! Let's take this from the top. I've got 4 kids. You've got 4 kids.

You are having a pop at one of mine over another.

I could become very competitive here and contend that any and all of my children are better looking than all of yours put together.

Then what?

I would put my money on my little viking daughter.

Span Ows said...

Where am I having a pop at anyone here except YOU. I guessed which one was your youngest but I didn't say anything bad about her...and "over another"???!!!. It really makes no sense.

Be as competetive as you like, that's called being a loving parent.

I can only assume -judging by the time you posted (nearly 5am!) - that you're plastered and a bit off your trolley.

Crispin Heath said...

Where's the Mensa test Span?

Span Ows said...

Sorry Six, got waylaid...now up.

Michelle Pillow said...

US isn't any better. Totally agree, it's our job as parent to what the kids eat. I'm not as fanatical as I should be about it, but I do stay healthy.

Great Blog BTW. Thanks for stopping by mine ;)

Michelle

Span Ows said...

Thanks Michelle,yep,there's plenty of sites saying the same about the US. I thought your book (club) site very good...I also liked your dogs really...:-)

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Span Ows said...

I know this is 'spam' Andre but will visit the site anyway...I need it!

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