Obesity crisis to cost £45bn a year

[Demi]

The Observer
London, UK
14 October, 2007


Obesity crisis to cost £45bn a year

Scientists' new report warns that around half of Britons will be seriously overweight by 2050

Denis Campbell, health correspondent

Obesity will cost £45 billion (US$91bn) a year by 2050 if the epidemic is not brought under control through dramatic changes across British society, a landmark government inquiry into the problem will warn this week.

Soaring rates of diabetes, strokes and heart disease caused by more Britons becoming fatter will cost the NHS alone £6.5bn. But other consequences, such as obese people being unable to work, will add a further £38.5bn to the bill, according to the Foresight report by a team of eminent scientists. The £45bn figure is a colossal increase on the assessment of £7bn annually, produced by the House of Commons health select committee in 2004.

The document warns that, based on the huge rise in the numbers of those dangerously overweight in the past 20 years, 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women, and half of primary school-age boys and one in five girls aged up to 11 could be obese by 2050.

Separate research shows that British schoolchildren are 8cm to 10cm, or nearly 4in, fatter than a generation ago. Dr David McCarthy, a Reader in Human Nutrition at London Metropolitan University, has found that a typical 12-year-old girl's weight rose by 7.4kg (16.3lbs) (more than a stone (14lbs)) from 41.6kg (92lbs) to 49kg (108lbs) between 1987 and 2007, while her waistline grew by 9.5cm (3.7in) from 61.5cm to 71cm in the same period. Boys fared better. An average 12-year-old boy went from weighing 40.4kg (89lbs) in 1977 to 47kg 104lbs) in 2007 - an increase of 6.6kg (14.5lbs) or just over a stone, albeit over a longer period than girls - and saw his waist grow by 8cm (3.1in) over that period.

The Foresight report claims that obese Britons are not individually to blame for their situation and are, in effect, victims of a new concept which they have called 'passive obesity'. This holds that, given modern lifestyles - such as computers, people driving to out-of-town shopping centres, and children being far less physically active - most people would put on weight in such circumstances.

'The whole environment is conspiring against people. We are putting on weight even when we don't want to, because the forces ranged against us being slim are so powerful', said one scientist involved in producing the report.

Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, last night compared the challenge posed by obesity to that of climate change and promised radical new measures by the government to try to reverse the tide.

'We know we must act. We cannot afford not to act', he said. 'For the first time we are clear about the magnitude of the problem: we are facing a potential crisis on the scale of climate change and it is in everybody's interest to turn things round.'

But Johnson stressed that obesity posed such a grave threat that it could not be solved by government action alone, that everyone had to play their part and that many different solutions were needed.

But public health experts attending this week's annual conference of the National Obesity Forum are set to criticise what they say is the government's appalling record so far in combating obesity.

Forum spokesman Tam Fry said: 'The current projection that there will be one million obese children by 2010 is an utter disgrace. The major flaw in dealing with obesity so far is the government has concentrated more on cure than prevention. They must begin looking at halting obesity among pre-school children as a priority.'


http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,2190940,00.html

[Demi]

The Sunday Times
London, UK
14 October, 2007


Food firms must combat obesity

THE food industry faces a government inquiry into its role in Britain’s surging obesity and heart disease rates with ministers considering a ban on trans fats as the first decisive step.

Trans fats, which are entirely artificial, have been shown to raise the risk of heart disease and might also have important roles in obesity and diabetes.

The inquiry, ordered by Alan Johnson, the health secretary, follows a series of warnings from successive health ministers that the food industry needed to improve the healthiness of its products - most of which have been ignored.

Johnson said: “We know we must act. We cannot afford not to act. For the first time we are clear about the magnitude of the problem: we are facing a potential crisis on the scale of climate change and it is in everybody’s interest to turn things around.”

The proposed ban on trans fats is being seen as a warning shot to the food industry as well as an important measure in its own right.

Trans fats are used widely by the food industry because they are up to 85% cheaper than natural fats such as butter, lard and palm oil. But researchers have repeatedly warned that they act as long-term toxins and have no benefit for consumers.

A recent report from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), which will carry out the new inquiry, said: “The trans fats found in food containing hydrogenated vegetable oil are harmful and have no known nutritional benefits. They raise the type of cholesterol in the blood that increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Some evidence suggests that the effects of these trans fats may be worse than saturated fats.”

However, even though such dangers have been known for nearly two decades, there is no obligation for food manufacturers to display the amount of trans fats on product labels.

Johnson’s decision to hold an inquiry follows cabinet discussions in which Gordon Brown made it clear that preventive healthcare was one of his top priorities.

“There is high-level commitment across government,” Johnson said. “We will provide the leadership, vision and sustained commitment required to help to start this cultural and societal shift.”

His move follows surveys looking at the rising proportion of the population who are overweight. They show that the British tip the scales as Europe’s fattest people, with 60% of adults and 30% of children overweight, defined as more than 25% of their body mass comprising fat tissue.

Of these, 20% were obese, meaning their bodies were at least 30% fat. That proportion could reach 40% by 2025.

Such changes could, ministers have been warned, threaten the viability of the National Health Service. It already spends between 10% and 20% of its hospital budget on obesity-related diseases such as diabetes.

Johnson’s decision could mark a sea change in the government’s dealings with the food industry. Until now ministers had accepted manufacturers’ claims that the best approach was to educate consumers about sensible eating and let them make their own choices.

Johnson seems to be moving towards the views put forward by health campaigners who say the government must take more responsibility for the nation’s deteriorating dietary health. They say few people have the time or ability to read complex food labels and design healthy diets and that many such labels are misleading.

Similar changes are already afoot in America where New York last year banned the use of trans fats in city restaurants and the government compelled manufacturers to list trans fat contents on food labels.

The British inquiry will consider further action on food advertising. There is already a ban on advertising foods such as crisps and chocolate during children’s television programmes. This could be extended to commercial breaks in adult programmes such as The X Factor and Big Brother, which attract many younger viewers.

The Food and Drink Federation, which represents Britain’s food manufacturers, accepted that Britons were eating too much saturated fat, but said the government should focus on people with the highest levels of fat intake rather than on regulating the industry.

Johnson points out that the problem cannot be solved by government action alone. “There is no single solution for obesity,” he said. “We will succeed only if the problem is recognised, owned and addressed at every level of society.” His cabinet colleague Ed Balls, the schools secretary, will tomorrow announce measures to increase the amount of sport played by school pupils. Only 50% of schoolchildren do two hours or more of physical exercise or sport every week, well below targets set in 2004.

Hidden threat

- Trans fats, or trans isomer fatty acids, are created by “hydrogenation” of vegetable oil: it is heated and then has hydrogen bubbled through it

- Trans fats have been increasing in western diets since they were first marketed in America in 1911 by Procter & Gamble

- The process transforms oils into a wax or solid that can be used to give texture to food and help preserve it for artificially long periods. In America, cupcakes made with trans fats have stayed fresh for 22 years

- Their cheapness - less than a fifth the cost of natural fats - means most manufacturers prefer them to butter, lard or traditional oils

- They are widely used in “healthy” substitutes for butter, as well as in pastries, cakes, breakfast cereals, snack bars, pizzas, doughnuts, processed cream and ice cream, and especially in deep-fried food

- A 2006 review in The New England Journal of Medicine found “a strong and reliable connection” between trans fats and heart disease. A study of 120,000 NHS nurses found the risk of heart disease doubled for every 2% rise in trans fat intake. It took a 19% rise in natural fat intake to cause a similar increase in risk


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2652857.ece

[Demi]

BBC News Online
London, UK
14 October, 2007


Obesity likened to climate change

The public health threat posed by obesity in the UK is a "potential crisis on the scale of climate change", the health secretary has warned.

Alan Johnson said the magnitude of the problem was becoming clear for the first time and "it is in everybody's interest to turn things round".

Details have emerged of a government study which says half the population could be obese within 25 years.

Ministers are drawing up a long-term action plan to tackle obesity.

Greater efforts

Professor Klim McPherson, of Oxford University, and Tim Marsh, of the National Heart Foundation, predict that within 15 years 86% of men will be overweight - but not necessarily obese - and within 20 years, 70% of women.

The government-commissioned Foresight report suggests the cost of the epidemic, in terms of health care provision and lost work hours, could reach £45bn a year by 2050, according to the Observer.

The study showed there had to be "further and faster" efforts beyond existing anti-obesity measures to encourage exercise and healthy eating, Mr Johnson said.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has backed a long-term action plan to fight obesity, funded by money earmarked in Tuesday's Comprehensive Spending Review.

The government is also due to ask the Food Standards Agency to probe the use of unhealthy "trans-fats", which have been linked to coronary heart disease, in fast food.

But Mr Johnson said individuals also had to take responsibility for their own health as part of a "cultural and societal shift".

He said: "There is no single solution to tackle obesity and it cannot be tackled by government action alone.

"We will only succeed if the problem is recognised, owned and addressed at every level and every part of society."


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7043639.stm

[Demi]

The Sunday Telegraph
Lodnon, UK
14 October, 2007


Half of us will be overweight in a generation

Nine out of 10 men will be overweight - half of them obese - within 15 years. And in 25 years, at least half the population will be obese, a leaked Government report reveals.

The obesity crisis is described as being as great a threat as that posed by climate change.

It is expected to cripple NHS resources, with spending linked to obesity predicted to triple in less than a decade, and rise seven-fold by 2050.

A draft analysis from the Foresight programme report, seen by The Sunday Telegraph, shows that if current trends continue, at least half the population will be obese by 2032, while half of all primary school boys will reach that point by 2050.

In less than 15 years, 86 per cent of men will be overweight, half of them obese, according to the inquiry which was ordered by chief scientific adviser Sir David King.

The statistics for women follow closely behind: within 20 years, 70 per cent of women will be overweight, of whom half will have a body mass index of more than 30, the medical definition of obesity.

Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, said the report's findings, which will be published on Wednesday, would demonstrate the scale of the problem facing Britain.

"For the first time, we are clear about the magnitude of the problem: we are facing a potential crisis on the scale of climate change, and it is in everybody's interest to turn things around," he said.

Mr Johnson is due to announce an investigation into the use of the chemically altered "trans fats" found in many fast foods and ready meals, which have been linked to high cholesterol levels and increased heart attacks.

Health experts said the Government's forecast would lay bare a "national catastrophe". Increasing numbers would face the prospect of limb amputations, as stressed joints struggled to cope with excess weight. Rates of heart disease, diabetes and breast and bowel cancer would also rise sharply.

Tam Fry, from the charity the National Obesity Forum, said: "People thought we would never reach this point, but we are now looking at a catastrophe for current as well as future generations."

The report's authors, Prof Klim McPherson from the University of Oxford and Tim Marsh from the National Heart Foundation, say that existing Government strategies are not enough to stem the impending crisis. And they warn that the "extent and depth of the policy shift required should not be underestimated".

Over the last 25 years, rates of obesity among women have tripled, from 8 per cent to 24 per cent, while rates among men have quadrupled, from 6 to 24 per cent.

But it is the effect on children which is more disturbing. The paper's apocalyptic vision echoes a warning from the Commons health select committee that children will increasingly die before their parents if drastic action is not taken. Their inquiry highlighted the case of a three-year-old who died from heart failure brought on by obesity.

Despite the figures, Harry McMillan, who runs a national weight-loss programme for children, said the report's authors had still focused too much on adult health problems and underestimated the impact of obesity on children.


How to calculate a healthy weight

Body mass index is calculated by dividing your weight in kilogrammes by your height in metres multiplied by itself.
A healthy BMI will be between 18.5 and 25. (For a woman of 5ft 4in (1.62m), this means between 7st 9lb and 10st 6lb (48.5-66.2kg).
A man of 6ft (1.83m) man should weigh between 9st 11lb and 13st 3lb (62.1-83.9kg)
A BMI of 25 to 30 is classed as overweight, while 30 or more is obese.
A BMI of 40 or more is classed as morbid obesity.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/14/nobese114.xml

[Zei]

The first article mentions diabetes and stroke as causing problems plus obese people not being able to work. Basically blaming obesity as the cause for these problems. Well, plenty of non-obese people get diabetes, strokes, and have problems working, and lots of obese people work just fine. Something else is wrong with these people who happen to be obese and are also too sick or whatever is wrong to work. They should treat that problem, not just order people to "lose weight" as the cure to all ills. Who knows? Maybe they'll next blame obesity directly for global warming, too. There's more of me producing heat than that skinny guy over there?!