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This year’s coronavirus pandemic has forced the public to seriously discuss our overall health. In the media, information began to circulate quite regularly that the second group, after seniors, most at risk of being infected with the Covid-19 virus, are obese people. What’s more, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Boris Johnson, added fuel to the fire a few weeks ago, announcing a comprehensive plan for the great national weight loss of the British.
And although this will not be an article about the coronavirus, undoubtedly the outbreak of the pandemic was quite a significant stimulus in the context of the implementation of the new strategy of the British government. In April of this year, Johnson, mentioned earlier, entered intensive care himself for an infection. As he emphasized during his message to the nation, the severe course of the disease forced him to reflect on his health and motivated him to lose excess weight.
You will read a bit about the idea of the British people a bit later, because it seems at least interesting, but first of all, it is worth focusing on the reasons for the current state of affairs.
The causes of obesity in the world
To say that a topic is very complex and ambiguous will not be much of an abuse. Certainly, the main causes of overweight and obesity are unhealthy eating habits and little physical activity. However, it would not only be unfair, but above all not entirely constructive, to reduce the causes of the bloody harvest scourge solely to diet and exercise.
Among the indirect causes of too much importance, we can also mention the following:
- lifestyle,
- industrial and technological progress, urbanization,
- easy access to processed and high-calorie food,
- chronic stress and emotional disorders such as depression,
- hormonal disorders,
- medications (including steroid therapies),
- “genetics”.
Probably the last of these reasons will be the most controversial, so we will discuss it first. As we can read in the guide of the Mother and Child Institute Foundation (all available here http://www.imid.med.pl/fimid-poradnik-web.pdf), research shows that 70% of children whose both parents are obese, he is also obese. When the parents are thin, the child’s risk of obesity is only 10%.
This does not mean, of course, that even if someone has “inherited” a tendency to gain weight, obesity must concern him. Here we go back to the environmental factors mentioned at the very beginning, i.e. eating habits and physical activity – in the end, they will have the greatest impact on our condition.
The other causes are, unfortunately, a gloomy sign of our times. We replace muscle work and physical activity with devices and means of transport, outdoor entertainment – TV, computer, telephone and game consoles, and unhealthy food is the one most exposed in supermarkets and advertisements.
Emotional and hormonal diseases and obesity
It was no coincidence that emotional disorders appeared on the list of causes of obesity. The World Health Organization reports that currently 320 million people suffer from depression in the world and is forecast to become the second most common disease in the world in 2020, and the first in 2030. In turn, the NHF report from February shows that last year antidepressants were bought by as many as 3,5 million Poles.
Depression has become a serious social problem and is often accompanied by neglect of physical activity and healthy eating habits. This may be due to a depressed mood, decreased energy, loss of life satisfaction, or an eating disorder.
On this occasion, it is worth mentioning the great campaign of Katarzyna Napiórkowska in cooperation with the Ministry of Health:
In the context of hormonal disorders and their impact on obesity, it is certainly encouraging that more and more people decide to undergo testing for Hashimoto’s disease or insulin resistance. Correct diagnosis allows you to adjust the appropriate recommendations and menu, and people affected by these ailments can also look for support in numerous publications and books. Two very extensive and substantive articles were recently prepared by our dietitian, Paulina Krause:
Diet and in Hashimoto’s disease – https://.pl/Dieta-w-chorobie-hashimoto
13 recommendations for insulin resistance – https://.pl/Insulinooporność-13-zaleceń
How to fight obesity?
We have promised to develop the British Prime Minister’s latest idea to fight obesity, and this one seems to be very interesting indeed. The strategy is based on two pillars: encouraging Britons to be more active and taking care of their diet. The first pillar will be implemented, inter alia, by bicycles that are to be available from now on … on prescription!
A doctor who diagnoses weight problems in his patient will be able to prescribe physical exercise in the form of a bicycle. Those Brits who cannot afford to buy equipment will be able to count on funding from the government. There were also vouchers to cover the repair of the bike in the amount of 50 pounds, which reportedly dispersed immediately. Of course, the entire strategy is long-term and also involves large investments in infrastructure, communication and social campaigns. In addition, family doctors are expected to help obese patients by setting exercise and diet plans.
The second pillar is the mission to draw the British attention to what they eat. Unhealthy products are to disappear from TV commercials before 21.00, revolutionary changes are also waiting for the arrangement of products on store shelves. The exposure of sweets, chips and fast food will be limited, and the ban on selling unhealthy food in the vicinity of the entrance and cash desks is also very interesting. The government plans to launch special campaigns to improve the culinary skills of citizens.
More information about the British idea can be found in an excellent article by Tomasz Borejza: https://wiadomosci.onet.pl/swiat/wielka-brytania-pszechna-otylosc-rzad-opracowal-plan-odchudzania/. We know that some of you live in Great Britain, so be sure to let us know what the implementation of this strategy looks like and whether you have noticed any changes.
Obesity in the world
And what does the fight against obesity look like in other parts of our globe? In Spain, only during the coronavirus epidemic from March to May, almost half of the population was supposed to gain weight, and not so long ago the local military also struggled with the scourge of obesity – after the disastrous results of fitness tests, soldiers received special training and diet plans. Vending machines with unhealthy food disappeared from French schools a few years ago, and as part of the fight against excessive sugar in the diet, restaurants cannot offer their customers refills.
Anti-obesity programs have been successfully functioning for several years in the Netherlands, Belgium and the Scandinavian countries. The implementation of a similar strategy across our western border was also commissioned by Julia Klöckner, the German minister of agriculture and food economy, who concluded an agreement with many sectors of the food industry to reduce the content of sugar, fats and salt in frozen foods and other finished products.
The battle against obesity on several fronts has also been going on in the United States for many years. In most schools, children now have access to healthy breakfasts, snacks, and balanced lunches, and states that provide healthier meals can count on subsidies from the federal administration. Americans are very pragmatic about this, saying that obesity costs the state budget as much as $ 150 billion a year in medical expenses alone.
Obesity in Poland
Finally, we must mention the situation in Poland, which is becoming more and more dramatic every year. Remember the numbers at the beginning of the article? According to the survey “National Health Test of Poles 2020”, as many as 61% of Poles have a problem with excess body weight – 74% of men and 50% of women. Obesity alone concerns 28% of Poles and 21% of Polish women.
27% of our society was on a slimming diet at least once in their lifetime, and the percentage of women in this group is much higher than that of men. Only 22% of Poles eat balanced meals in line with the food pyramid.
The entire report, in which you will find a lot of important information, is available for download at this link: https://narodowytestzdrowia.medonet.pl/
Poland needs a strategy and a comprehensive plan, although the recently introduced sugar tax may be the first step in the fight against obesity. Such a tax already works in several countries, including the United States, where it has reduced sales of sweetened beverages by up to 80%.
In Poland, from January 2021, only high-sugar drinks are to be subject to sugar tax. This is a solution, the effects of which will certainly be observed in the next dozen or so years, but you should remember one thing that we always come back to – we do not gain weight on specific products, but on energy surplus.
Why is my child obese?
Last week, a webinar about nutrition for school children appeared on our Facebook page. Mum-dietitian Marta Tomaszewska answered many of your questions, including those about eating disorders and excessive body weight in children. You can see and listen to the entire material here:
The anti-obesity month falls every year in October. We strongly encourage you to talk to your loved ones about the important role that a healthy, balanced diet and regular physical activity play in the context of the quality and length of our lives.
Be sure to let us know in the comments what you think about our new article and don’t forget to add your ideas for the fight against obesity!