obesity has doubled since 190

[Guest guest]

Obesity Has Doubled Since 1980, Major Global Analysis of Risk Factors

Reveals

18-Feb-2011

The worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled since 1980, according

to a major study on how three important heart disease risk factors have

changed across the world over the last three decades. The study, published

today in three papers in the Lancet, looked at all available global data to

assess how body mass index, blood pressure and cholesterol changed between

1980 and 2008.

The study shows that in 2008, more than one in ten of the world's adult

population was obese, with women more likely to be obese than men. An

estimated 205 million men and 297 million adult women were obese - a total

of more than half a billion adults worldwide.

The proportion of the world's population with high blood pressure, or

uncontrolled hypertension, fell modestly between 1980 and 2008. However,

because of population growth and ageing, the number of people with

uncontrolled hypertension rose from 600 million in 1980 to nearly 1 billion

in 2008. High-income countries achieved large reductions in uncontrolled

hypertension, with the most impressive progress seen in women in Australasia

and men in North America. Uncontrolled hypertension is defined as a systolic

blood pressure higher than 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure higher than

90 mmHg.

Average levels of total blood cholesterol fell in Western countries of North

America, Australasia and Europe, but increased in East and Southeast Asia

and the Pacific region.

Professor Majid Ezzati, the senior author of the study from the School of

Public Health at Imperial College London, said: " Our results show that

overweight and obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are no

longer Western problems or problems of wealthy nations. Their presence has

shifted towards low and middle income countries, making them global

problems. "

Beyond global trends, the studies reveal how different countries compare in

terms of each risk factor. The results show that:

BMI:

* In 2008, 9.8 per cent of men and 13.8 per cent of women in the world

were obese (with a BMI above 30 kg/m2), compared with 4.8 per cent for men

and 7.9 per cent for women in 1980.

* Pacific island nations have the highest average BMI in the world,

reaching 34-35 kg/m2, up to 70 per cent higher than some countries in

Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

* Among high income countries, USA has the single highest BMI (over 28

kg/m2 for men and women), followed by New Zealand. Japan has the lowest BMI

(about 22 kg/m2 for women and 24 kg/m2 for men), followed by Singapore.

* Among high-income countries, between 1980 and 2008, BMI rose most in

USA (by more than 1 kg/m2/decade), followed by New Zealand and Australia for

women and followed by UK and Australia for men. Women in a few Western

European countries had virtually no rise in BMI.

* The UK has the sixth highest BMI in Europe for women and ninth

highest for men (both around 27 kg/m2).

* Turkish women and Czech men have the highest BMI in Europe (both

around 28 kg/m2). Swiss women had the lowest BMI in Europe (around 24

kg/m2).

Blood pressure:

* Systolic blood pressure levels are highest in Baltic and East and

West African countries, reaching 135 mmHg for women and 138 mmHg for men.

These levels were seen in some Western European countries in the 1980s

before their impressive declines.

* South Korea, Cambodia, Australia, Canada and USA had some of the

lowest blood pressures for both men and women, below 120 mmHg for women and

below 125 mmHg for men.

* Among high income countries, Portugal, Finland and Norway have the

highest blood pressure.

* Men had higher blood pressure than women in most world regions.

Cholesterol:

* Western European countries like Greenland, Iceland, Andorra, and

Germany have the highest cholesterol levels in the world, with mean serum

total cholesterols of around 5.5 mmol/L.

* African countries have the lowest cholesterol, some as low as 4

mmol/L.

* Among western high-income countries, Greece has the lowest

cholesterol for both men and women (below 5 mmol/L). USA, Canada, and Sweden

also had low cholesterol.

* The UK's cholesterol is ninth highest in the world, slightly below

5.5 mmol/L.

The review was carried out by an international collaboration of researchers,

led by Professor Majid Ezzati from Imperial College London and co-led by Dr.

Goodarz Danaei from the Harvard School of Public Health, in collaboration

with The World Health Organization and a number of other institutions.

Professor Ezzati added: " It's heartening that many countries have

successfully reduced blood pressure and cholesterol despite rising BMI.

Improved screening and treatment probably helped to lower these risk factors

in high-income countries, as did using less salt and healthier, unsaturated

fats.

" The findings are an opportunity to implement policies that lead to

healthier diets, especially lower salt intake, at all levels of economic

development, as well as looking at how we improve detection and control

through the primary healthcare system. Policies and targets for

cardiovascular risk factors should get special attention at the High-level

Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Non-Communicable Diseases

in September 2011. "

Dr. Goodarz Danaei, from the Harvard School of Public Health, said: " This is

the first time that anyone has tried to estimate trends in these major risk

factors in every country in the world. The amount of data we collected is

unprecedented and vast, and allows us to draw robust conclusions. "

Dr. Gretchen s, from the World Health Organization, said: " Our study

helps track the obesity problem in individual countries and regions. We know

that changes in diet and in physical activity have contributed to the

worldwide rise in obesity, but it remains unclear which policies would

effectively reduce obesity. We need to identify, implement, and rigorously

evaluate policy interventions aimed at reversing the trends, or limiting

their harmful effects. "

The work forms part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk

Factors Study, which is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The study also received funding from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Source: Imperial College London

Page Options:

Print Version <http://gourmetconnection.com/news/bin/printnews.cgi?ID=1712>