Now Britain is the fattest country in Europe (and the fifth most overweight in the world)

 

 

By Ian Sparks

Last updated at 1:15 PM on 24th September 2010

 

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• Americans are still top of global obesity table
  

Britain is the fattest country in Europe and the fifth most overweight of the world's 33 most-developed nations, a new study has revealed.

A quarter of all adults in the U.K. are obese and a staggering 66 per cent of men and 57 per cent of women are overweight.

The U.S. remains home to the fattest people on the planet, with more than three out of ten men and women clinically obese.

It is followed by Mexico, Chile and New Zealand and then Britain.

 

Unhealthy: Britain is the fattest country in Europe and the fifth most overweight of the world's 33 most-developed nations, according to a study

 

The world's thinnest people are the Japanese where only three per cent of people are obese and one in five is overweight.

 

The South Koreans, Swiss, Norwegians and Italians are the next slimmest people, according to the report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Worrying trend: OECD graphic shows how dramatically weights have increased across the world, with England rising as fast as America

 

In Europe, Ireland was the second fattest country, followed by Luxembourg, Greece and Hungary.

 

Obesity is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilogrammes by the square of their height in metres to find the body mass index, or BMI. Anything over 30kg is defined as obese and over 25kg is defined as overweight.

 

EVEN THEIR OWN PARENTS DON'T LIKE THE OBESE

 

Overweight youngsters may face discrimination at school, but they get harsher treatment at home - from their own parents.

The obese are less likely to get help towards paying for college or buying a car, researchers from the University of North Texas in Denton found.

 

'No one is going to be surprised that society discriminates against the overweight, but I think it is surprising that it can come from your parents,' researcher Adriel Boals said.

Fat people were also likely to earn less and are less likely to marry.

For their study into family assistance with car purchase and weight status, the researchers surveyed 379 college students aged 17 to 26 years old of whom 30 per cent were male.

 

 

 

The OECD study said on average, an obese person incurs 25 per cent higher health expenditures than a person of normal weight in any year.

Obesity is much more common in poorer and less well-educated people and is responsible for up to three per cent of total health expenditures in most countries.

A severely obese person is likely to die eight to 10 years earlier than a person of normal weight.

 

And obese people also earned up to 18 per cent less than slimmer people, the OECD report said.

 

A strategy to prevent obesity could save up to 70,000 lives a year in Britain, and comparative numbers in every other country, the study found.

 

It blamed poor diet, cheap food and lack of exercise for the world's soaring fat phenomenon.

 

Global obesity rates could soar by up to ten per cent by the year 2020 if action is not taken, it said.

Senior OECD health economist Franco Sassi said: 'Food is much cheaper than in the past, in particular food that is not particularly healthy, and people are changing their lifestyles.

 

'They have less time to prepare meals and are eating out more in restaurants.'

 

But he added: 'Governments can help people change their lifestyle by making new healthy options available or by making existing ones more accessible and affordable.

 

'Alternatively, they can use persuasion, education and information to make healthy options more attractive.

'But this gentle approach is more expensive, hard to deliver and hard to monitor.'

Anyone up for a Triple Whopper with cheese?

Anyone up for a Triple Whopper with cheese?

 

Quite a few, judging by the fatistics.:dozey:

Quite a few, judging by the fatistics.:dozey:

Yeah, it's quite scary because I had the idea that most people in Europe and Asia were more health-conscious than in any other part of the world.

Obese Britain: Growing number of young teens having gastric band or stomach stapling surgery on the NHS

 

 

By James Chapman

Last updated at 1:45 AM on 25th September 2010

 

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Children as young as 14 are having invasive weight-loss surgery on the NHS at up to £14,000 a time.

Official figures reveal a sharp rise in the number of obese teenagers having gastric bypasses, stomach stapling or gastric banding.

In one case, the parents of a 14-year-old were told the Health Service would not pay for a weight-loss course but would instead cover a more costly gastric band.

 

 

 

Before and after: Emrah Mevsimier had a gastric band fitted aged 13, becoming the youngest person in Britain to have one. He was one of four members of his family to have the operation. His mother died aged 40, a year after having a gastric band fitted

 

Increasing demand: Fern Britton lost more than five stone thanks to a gastric band operation

 

Publicity surrounding celebrities such as Fern Britton, who shed more than five stone after a gastric band operation, is blamed by critics for helping to fuel demand for similar procedures. There are also safety fears.

Operations have shot up tenfold since 2000 and are now estimated to be costing the NHS £32million a year at a time of crisis for the public finances.

Commons questions by Labour MP Gloria De Piero reveal that for the first time children are having the surgery.

In 2004, no one under the age of 18 was given a gastric bypass, gastric band or stomach stapling on the NHS, and Health Service guidelines suggest operations should not generally be offered to anyone under that age.

CAN THE OPERATION HARM A GROWING BOY?

 

Stomach, or bariatric, surgery involves a gastric bypass, gastric banding or stapling to cut the amount of food a patient can eat.

Among the risks are bleeding, infection, slippage of the band or, in extreme cases, blockage of the stomach outlet.

Long-term effects for teenagers are unknown, although some studies suggest that despite the fact that they are still growing, they suffer fewer complications and recover faster than older patients.

Success in losing weight may lead to more surgery because some adolescents may have to have body contouring operations to get rid of excess skin and flab.

Teenagers fitted with removable gastric bands must be hypervigilant about what they eat, when they eat and how they eat.

Emrah Mevsimler was 13 when he became the youngest person in the UK to have a gastric band fitted around his stomach.

He was one of four members of his family to have the operation, so they could avoid the same fate as his mother – who was officially Britain’s most obese woman.

Sharon Mevsimler died in July this year, at the age of 40, only a year after having a gastric band herself.

At her peak she weighed 45 stone and spent the last two months of her life on a specially-strengthened bed in hospital in Chelmsford, Essex.

Emrah weighed more than 14 stone in his early teens so she paid for him to have the operation in Belgium in 2007.

Now 16, and a normal weight for his age, he said after his mother’s death: ‘She saved my life but she didn’t get to save hers.’

 

 

 

But health minister Anne Milton has told the Commons that last year 13 procedures were carried out.

Miss De Piero, a former GMTV host, was alerted to the scandal by the ­parents of the 14-year-old offered a gastric band.

She said: ‘The numbers are relatively small but it is a very worrying trend.

'Surely exercise or non-surgical options like a healthy eating programme should always come first?

‘Apart from anything else, it’s an appalling waste of money for the NHS when cheaper options are available.

'It seems that operations which are very serious and have lifelong implications for patients are being seen as quick fixes.’

The mother of the 14-year-old, who weighs 17 and a half stone, told the Daily Mail: ‘The idea that the NHS is giving children surgery like this when they are still growing is absolutely appalling.

‘My son needs help to change his whole attitude to food, not radical surgery.

'No one really knows the long-term implications and he didn’t want a quick fix like that.’

Ian Campbell, of the charity Weight Concern, said: ‘This is enough to make you want to weep.

'There is no question that bariatric surgery should be the last resort in children.

'A child who has this surgery will never be able to function normally in a social context.

‘You can’t eat out normally with friends, or enjoy family meals in the same way as everybody else.

'You are forced to eat very, very small portions of food for the rest of your life.

'So there is a heavy social price.

‘Anyone who’s considered for surgery, young or old, should have undergone all possible medical avenues, including psychological assessments and cognitive behavioural therapy.

‘That can actually be one of the most effective forms of treatment for morbid obesity.

'It takes time, but clearly it should be the preferred option in a case like this.’

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘I’m very dubious that a child can make this kind of decision.

More...

 

 

• Now Britain is the fattest country in Europe (and the fifth most overweight in the world)
  

 

'It’s most unlikely that at that age, a child has got the capacity to understand that it will mean a lifetime restriction on what they can eat.

‘It is being seen by people as a quick fix. There’s always the potential with gastric banding that things can go wrong.’

The overall numbers of procedures have soared from 238 in 2000 to 4,619 in England in the 12 months to June 2009.

Gastric banding costs between £5,000 and £7,000, while bypasses cost between £8,000 and £14,000.

Surgical treatment for obese children around the age of 16 can be considered as a ‘last resort’ on the NHS.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1315039/Obese-Britain-Young-teens-having-gastric-band-stomach-stapling-surgery-NHS.html#ixzz10Wm6MVnv

Yeah, it's quite scary because I had the idea that most people in Europe and Asia were more health-conscious than in any other part of the world.

 

you know why? Because all these American based companies have found their way abroad and started poisoning the rest of the world... McDonald's, Taco Hell (Bell), KFC, etc.... all that garbage... now found in China, India, Europe... its sad.

 

 

I can so see America in the future floating around on those motorized electronic recliners like in Wall-E.... its gonna happen. :(

you know why? Because all these American based companies have found their abroad and start poisoning the rest of the world...

 

That's right! America's to blame for it all! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!:P

Thank god that graph didn't include the deep-fried mars bar nation ;)

has this fast food company made it to Europe? It's one of the "healthiest" for fast food. And the food is actually pretty good.

 

never heard of it!

Thank god that graph didn't include the deep-fried mars bar nation ;)

 

Are you suggesting Scotland is no longer part of Britain or the UK?:confused:

I'm surprised they didn't make it, they have Coatbridge!

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2010/04/12/revealed-coatbridge-is-the-fattest-town-in-britain-86908-22179908/

Are you suggesting Scotland is no longer part of Britain or the UK?:confused:

 

If you look at the graph you posted it says England, not Britain or the UK

If you look at the graph you posted it says England, not Britain or the UK

 

In which case the headline is clearly misleading.:dozey:

never heard of it!

 

well i hope it makes it to europe because it's super yummy

has this fast food company made it to Europe? It's one of the "healthiest" for fast food. And the food is actually pretty good.

 

 

I loooove Chick-fil-A, especially those waffle fries. Yummy.

 

They need to open some this side of the Atlantic