1. What is obesity?
Overweight and obesity are defined as "abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that can damage health". Body mass index (BMI) is the most commonly used measure of overweight and obesity in adults. It is the weight calculated in kilograms divided by the square of height calculated in meters (kg/m2). Who defines "overweight" as a body mass index equal to or greater than 25, and "obesity" as a body mass index equal to or greater than 30.
2. How many obese people are there in the world?
In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults were overweight and more than 500 million were obese. At least 2.8 million deaths each year can be attributed to being overweight or obese. From 1980 to 2008, the number of obese people has nearly doubled. Obesity was once regarded as a problem in high-income countries, but now it is also widespread in low-income and middle-income countries.
3. How many children are overweight?
In 2008, more than 40 million preschool children were overweight in the world. Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges in the 21st century. Overweight children may become obese adults. Compared with non-overweight children, they may suffer from diabetes and cardiovascular diseases earlier, thus increasing the risk of premature death and disability.
4. Overweight and obesity increase the risk of accidental death.
Globally, the number of deaths caused by overweight and obesity is higher than that caused by underweight. Of the world’s total population, 65% live in countries where the number of overweight and obesity deaths is higher than that of underweight deaths. This includes all high-income and middle-income countries. Worldwide, 44% of patients with diabetes, 23% of patients with ischemic heart disease and 7%-41% of patients with certain cancers can be attributed to overweight and obesity.
5. Causes of personal obesity
Personal obesity is often the result of the imbalance between calorie intake and calorie consumption. An increase in the intake of high-calorie foods without a corresponding increase in physical activity will lead to overweight. Reducing the level of physical activity will also lead to energy imbalance, which will lead to weight gain.
Controlling obesity is a social action.
A good environment and community are very important for people to choose and prevent obesity. Only when people can enjoy a healthy lifestyle and make healthy choices can personal responsibility play its full role. WHO mobilizes all parties concerned to play a key role in creating a healthy environment and providing people with affordable and accessible healthy eating choices.
7. Children’s choices and their eating and physical activity habits are influenced by their surroundings.
Social and economic development and policies in the fields of agriculture, transportation, urban planning, environment, education, food processing, supply and distribution affect children’s eating habits and preferences and physical activities. These factors contribute to the trend of overweight, leading to a gradual increase in childhood obesity rate.
8. A healthy diet helps to prevent obesity.
Maintaining health requires a normal weight. At the same time of normal diet, limit the intake of total fat and change the intake of fat from saturated fat to unsaturated fat, eat more fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains and nuts, and limit the intake of sugar and salt.
9. Regular physical activity is beneficial to maintaining a healthy body.
People should engage in moderate physical activities all their lives. Regular physical activity for at least 30 minutes on most days can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, colon cancer and breast cancer. Strengthening muscle and exercise balance can reduce falls and improve the mobility of middle-aged and elderly people. If you need to control your weight, you may need to increase your activity.
10. Controlling obesity also requires respect for local cultures.
It is necessary to take multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary measures to curb the global obesity epidemic according to the specific situation of the population and respecting cultural customs. The action plan of WHO’s global strategy for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases points out the direction for formulating and strengthening the monitoring, prevention and management plan of non-communicable diseases, including obesity. (Source: World Health Organization)
May 11th is World Obesity Day. The homonym of May 11th is "I want 1", and the last "1" stands for slim, which is "I want to be thin" in common parlance. Facing the 200 million overweight people in China, this is undoubtedly a shout out of our hearts! (Source: Sichuan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention)