Statistics of obesity in wales:
Welsh health survey: 57% of adults overweight or obese
Obesity rates have increased in Wales since 2003
More than half of adults in Wales are overweight or obese, according to the latest Welsh Health
Survey.
The annual survey says the problem affects 57% of adults, with 22% being obese. In children, 35%
are considered overweight or obese (19% obese).
The overall figure for adults remains unchanged from last year's survey, despite warnings about the
problem.
Obesity specialist Dr Nadim Haboubi has blamed a lack of NHS funding for essential surgery and
community help.
Dr Haboubi, who is also chair of the National Obesity Forum for Wales and runs the country's only
NHS-funded obesity clinic, said last month that the problem was "huge, massive, worse than
England, worse than anywhere in the UK and among the worst in the western world, I would argue".
"The worst is probably the USA but we're certainly not far behind," he said.
Other findings in this year's survey include:
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43% of adults reported drinking above recommended guidelines on at least one day in the
past week, with 27% reporting drinking twice the daily guidelines (binge-drinking)
34% of adults said their day-to-day activities were limited because of a health problem
Only a third of adults reported eating five or more portions of fruit and vegetables the previous
day
29% of adults reported being physically active on five or more days in the past week
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16% of adults said their health in general was excellent, 34% very good, 30% good, 15% fair
and 6% poor
32% of adults reported attending the outpatient department of a hospital in the last 12 months
Another document, Trends in health-related lifestyle in Wales, looks at trends in Welsh health
surveys from 2003/4 to 2011.
Among other findings, it says:
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Obesity rates have increased since 2003, although they appear to be rising more slowly since
2007
Smoking rates decreased between 2003/4 and 2011
There has been little change in the overall levels of drinking above guidelines and binge
drinking since 2008
Since 2008, there was a slight decrease in the percentage of adults consuming five or more
portions of fruit and veg
Physical activity levels remained relatively stable between 2003/4 and 2011
Dr Ruth Hussey, Chief Medical Officer for Wales, said: "We have seen a slow down in rising obesity
rates in recent years and smoking rates have decreased since 2003/04.
"There has been little change in alcohol consumption and physical activity rates over the past few
years.
"However there is no room for complacency when it comes to encouraging healthier behaviour and
there is more to be done."
http://wales.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/welsh-health-survey/?lang=en
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/alarm-wales-soaring-obesity-figures-6279443
http://www.assemblywales.org/Research%20Documents/Childhood%20Obesity%20%20Quick%20guide-02072013-229581/qg12-0004-English.pdf
Obesity quadruples to nearly one billion
in developing world
Diets are changing
wherever incomes are rising in the developed world
The number of overweight and obese adults in the developing world has almost quadrupled
to around one billion since 1980, says a report from a UK think tank.
The Overseas Development Institute said one in three people worldwide was now overweight
and urged governments to do more to influence diets.
In the UK, 64% of adults are classed as being overweight or obese.
The report predicts a "huge increase" in heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.
Globally, the percentage of adults who were overweight or obese - classed as having a body
mass index greater than 25 - grew from 23% to 34% between 1980 and 2008.
The majority of this increase was seen in the developing world, particularly in countries
where incomes were rising, such as Egypt and Mexico.
The ODI's Future Diets report says this is due to changing diets and a shift from eating
cereals and grains to the consumption of more fats, sugar, oils and animal products.
A total of 904 million people in developing countries are now classed as overweight or above,
with a BMI of more than 25, up from 250 million in 1980.
This compares to 557 million in high-income countries. Over the same period, the global
population nearly doubled.
At the same time, however, under-nourishment is still recognised to be a problem for
hundreds of millions of people in the developing world, particularly children.
Using data published in Population Health Metrics last year, the researchers looked at
changing overweight and obesity rates across the regions of the world and by individual
country.
The regions of North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America saw large increases in
overweight and obesity rates to a level on a par with Europe, around 58%.
While North America still has the highest percentage of overweight adults at 70%, regions
such as Australasia and southern Latin America are now not far behind with 63%.
Diet linked to income:
The greatest growth in overweight people occurred in south east Asia, where the percentage
tripled from a lower starting point of 7% to 22%.
Among individual countries, the report found that overweight and obesity rates had almost
doubled in China and Mexico, and risen by a third in South Africa since 1980. Many countries
in the Middle East also had a high percentage of overweight adults.
One of the report authors, Steve Wiggins, said there were likely to be multiple reasons for the
increases.
More meat, fats and
sugar are being consumed globally
"People with higher incomes have the ability to choose the kind of foods they want. Changes
in lifestyle, the increasing availability of processed foods, advertising, media influences...
have all led to dietary changes."
He said this was particularly the case in emerging economies, where a large middle class of
people with rising incomes was living in urban centres and not taking much physical
exercise.
The result, he says, is "an explosion in overweight and obesity in the past 30 years" which
could lead to serious health implications.
This is because consumption of fat, salt and sugar, which has increased globally according
to the United Nations, is a significant factor in cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some
cancers.
The world's top sugar consumers include the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Costa Rica, and Mexico.
To combat the rising tide of obesity, Mr Wiggins recommends more concerted public health
measures from governments, similar to those taken to limit smoking in developed countries.
He said: "Politicians need to be less shy about trying to influence what food ends up on our
plates.
"The challenge is to make healthy diets viable whilst reducing the appeal of foods which
carry a less certain nutritional value."
The report cites the example of South Korea where efforts to preserve the country's
traditional diet have included public campaigns and large-scale meal preparation training for
women.
Alan Dangour, a reader in food and nutritional global health at the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine, said urbanisation in many parts of the world had changed people's
eating habits away from traditional, healthy diets.
But he said obesity and under-nutrition often existed side by side, sometimes in the same
household.
"We need to act urgently to deal with the scandal of millions of cases of extreme hunger and
under-nutrition in children, but we also need to think what happens if we provide lots of extra
calories, containing few vitamins, and encourage excess consumption.
Would people in the UK support a tax on fatty foods?
"Clever, joined-up policies are needed."
A spokesperson from the Department of Health said they recognised that high rates of
obesity caused dangerous health conditions and were taking action.
"We are already taking the lead in helping tackle and prevent this challenge, including
through the government's Responsibility Deal with industry, NHS Health Checks, the
National Child Measurement Programme in schools and through Change4Life.
"For the first time ever, we've given local authorities ring-fenced budgets to tackle public
health issues in their local area, including obesity."
The Department of Health also said that industry and health professionals had a role to play
in helping people improve their diet and lifestyles.