Obesity – A new lifestyle disease?

What is obesity?

Obesity is when a person is so overweight that it may have a negative effect on their health. Being overweight is not the same as being obese. The medical diagnosis of being overweight or obese is given by a doctor. There are also some mathematical models like the Body Mass Index (BMI), which attempts to give people some guidelines. The BMI has, however, been criticized for disregarding individual differences.

French Fries sweet but dangerous
Opphavsmann: Scott Ableman

What causes obesity?

Today more women are working outside the home which gives less time for food preparation. At the same time new technologies for manufacturing have resulted in an increase in mass produced food. In North America and Europe the most important change is in the preparation of potatoes. As a result, people consume much more French fries and chips, which contain many more calories than boiled, mashed or baked potatoes.

The United States - a heavyweight champion?

The United States has for a long time been in the front line in terms of economic development and trend-setting. More money in the pockets of the population is generally seen as a positive development, and more money generally leads to a higher living standard. However, affluence has also made us drive around in cars, watch television and eat tasty snacks a lot of the time. Obesity has, therefore, become one of the greatest challenges to US society - together with terrorism, drugs and crime. Fortunately, statistics show that the obesity epidemic may be coming to a halt in the USA and that the focus on healthy diets and exercise is finally paying off.

What is the trend in other countries?

Worldwide, 400 million adults and 40 million children are obese. There are more than 1.7 billion overweight people in the world. Food culture and control of food varies a great deal from country to country. The countries which have an increase in obesity correspond to the countries where mass-produced food is readily available. However, obesity levels have risen dramatically all over the globe.