Calls for immediate action on obesity in Britain
Obesity levels in the UK shows that the fattest people are now getting even fatter.
Dr Ian Campbell, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, told the first National Obesity Forum Congress in London that UK morbid obesity, defined as a body mass index of 40 or above, had increased by half in the last seven years to about 17 in 1,000 people.
Britain is currently the fattest nation in Europe and the costs of treating obesity are estimated at £500 million a year.
Dr Campbell said the problem of obesity was becoming a burden on the NHS and added: “We must work together and encourage those battling with their weight to take responsibility for themselves. There are no quick fixes, and no easy answers exist.”
Meanwhile, a report by independent healthcare specialists, Doctor Foster, found that care of obese patients varies significantly across the UK and some areas are still refusing to fund drug and surgical treatments for the condition.
Researchers estimated around 30,000 deaths are caused by obesity in the UK each year, with 18 million working days lost.
The survey of 345 Primary Care Organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland revealed that more than half of PCOs had not organised weight management clinics for their communities and almost one-third of GPs did not have direct access to a dietician.
In the UK, one-fifth of men and a quarter of women are obese (with a body mass index of 30 or over), compared with eight per cent of women and six per cent of men classified as obese in 1980.
The Government plans to launch a new drive to get Britons more active, linking fitness information in with the Athens Olympics next year and the UK’s bid to host the 2012 games.
