The facts behind British and global obesity

The British media today covers a new report on obesity titled “Measuring Up” produced by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. The foreward to the report states:

“The UK is the ‘fat man’ of Europe. Latest figures from the Health Survey for England 2009-11 shows that one quarter of men and women are obese (BMI over 30) and two thirds of adults are obese or overweight (BMI over 25). The National Child Measurement Programme 2011-12 shows that for children aged 10-11, one in five are obese and one in three are overweight or obese. In the last 20 years, the number of morbidly obese adults (BMI over 40) has more than doubled to over one million UK citizens.”

Of course, obesity is a global issue, especially in richer countries and those becoming richer. The BBC has a two-minute film which explains this here.


 




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