OverWeight Obesity

OverWeight/Obesity

• Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health.
• Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight for height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. For adults WHO defines overweight and obesity as follows:
• Overweight is a BMI greater than or equal to 25 and
• Obesity is a BMI greater than or equal to 30.
• For children age needs to be considered when defining overweight and obesity.
• Nearly 39% of adults aged 18 years and over (39% of men and 40% of women) were overweight.
• Overall about 13% of the world’s adult population (11% of men and 15% of women) were obese in 2016.
• The fundamental causes of obesity and overweight is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. Globally there has been an increased intake of energy – dense food that are high in fat and sugars and an increase in physical inactivity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of transportation and increasing urbanization.

• Raised BMI is a major risk factor for non-communicable disease such as cardiovascular diseases (Mainly heart disease and stroke), diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis – a highly disabling degenerative disease of the joints and some cancers).

• At the individual level people can
• limit energy intake from total fats and sugars.
• Increase consumption of fruit and vegetables, as well as legumes, whole grain, nuts and engage in regular physical activity (60 minutes a day for children and 150 minutes spread through the week for adults)