Healthcare systems have failed to come to grips with the global
obesity epidemic and its serious health consequences, leading
experts stated.
More than a billion people, 10 percent of whom are children,
worldwide are obese or overweight. It is the sixth most important
risk factor in the overall burden of disease.
But there are no coordinated efforts among doctors, nurses,
and nutritionists to prevent people from piling on the pounds
or to help those who already have, the experts said.
"No health-service system has yet developed a useful strategy
for managing the huge numbers of overweight and obese people
in the community," said David Halsam, of the National Obesity
Forum, UK, and Philip James, of the International Obesity Task
Force.
In a report in the Lancet medical journal they detailed the
dire consequences of neglecting one of the world's most neglected
public health problems.
Obesity decreases life expectancy by seven years by the time
a person reaches 40 years old. About 30,000 deaths a year in
Britain and 10 times that amount in the United States are attributable
to being obese, according the duo.
In the United States, which has the highest rate of overweight
and obese people, the problem is set to overtake smoking as
the main preventable cause of illness and early death.
In addition to shortening life, carrying too much weight also
increases the risk of developing heart disease and stroke, diabetes,
arthritis and certain types of cancer.
"About 10 percent of all cancer deaths among non-smokers are
related to obesity," Halsam and James said.
Obese people are also more likely to suffer psychological problems,
be considered less acceptable partners and are handicapped in
job promotions and may earn less.
"The medical profession is only now waking up to the political
and industrial challenges as well as the medical challenge,"
they said.
Halsam and James warned that food industry interests, with
powers greater than those of the tobacco giants, are lobbying
and using tactics to slow the drive for change.
"Our new scientific understanding of obesity is helping to
validate a new approach to tackling the problem but the response
of the medical profession to both its management and prevention
is still at an early stage," they added.
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