BBC has carried this report that states that based on recent data from the data agency Eurostat, British women are ranked as ‘the fattest in Europe’. Eurostat based their findings from a survey called the European Health Interview. Malta and Latvia were to follow with a slightly lower percentage.

The UK has more obese women than any other country in Europe, according to European Union figures.

Data agency Eurostat, which looked at 19 countries, found nearly a quarter of UK women - 23.9% - were recorded as being obese in the year 2008 to 2009.

Just over 22% of UK men were classed as obese, coming second only to Malta.

A person is defined as obese if their body mass index (BMI), the result of a calculation involving weight and height, is above a certain level.

The BMI correlates fairly well with body fat.

Statisticians found the share of overweight and obese people increases with age in all of the 19 member states that data was available for.

The data come from the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) and was published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Its figures for the UK were based on data from England, although surveys suggest the percentage of obese adults in Wales and Northern Ireland is similar and Scotland’s latest health report put the figure at 28%.

After the UK, the countries with the highest levels of female obesity were Malta, with 21.1%, and Latvia, where 20.9% fulfilled that criteria.

Meanwhile, after Malta and the UK, the countries with the highest instances of male obesity were Hungary - where 21.4% fall into that category - and the Czech Republic, where 18.4% are classed as such. …..Read More

Americans grew fatter at a faster pace than residents of any other wealthy nation since 1980, during a period when obesity worldwide nearly doubled, researchers found.

Almost 10 percent of the world’s population was obese in 2008, according to studies published today by the medical journal The Lancet. The percentage of people with uncontrolled hypertension, or high blood pressure, fell, with high-income countries showing a larger drop. Cholesterol levels declined in North America, Australia and Europe, but increased in East and Southeast Asia as well as the Pacific region, researchers said.

The rise in obesity, as measured by body mass index, is worrying and may lead to an increase in diabetes, said Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London, who led the research.

Ezzati suggested taxing sugary drinks and sweets as well as rethinking transportation, such as adding bike lanes.

“We are at best buying some time” Ezzati said in an interview yesterday. “We have to get very serious about BMI, beyond good intentions.” Policy changes may begin to reduce obesity in as little as five years, he said.

The findings about Americans and obesity add to evidence that the U.S. has a weight problem. About 68 percent of American adults are overweight, raising their risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer, according to the 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Almost 34 percent are obese.

The Japanese and Singaporeans are the slimmest.

Article coutersy Bloomberg - Click Here To Read More

More than one in 10 of the world’s population is obese – more than half a billion adults – and rates have doubled since 1980. The biggest increases are in the richer nations but almost every country has seen rates rise.

The rise is being driven by increasing urbanisation, the growth of sedentary, office-based lifestyles and the substitution of Western-style fast foods for traditional diets. Researchers from Imperial CollegeLondon and McMaster University in Canada, writing in The Lancet, describe it as a “tsunami of obesity that will eventually affect all regions of the world”.

In its wake comes an epidemic of heart disease and stroke, linked with high blood pressure and raised cholesterol levels. Remarkably, high-income countries such as the US and UK have managed to avoid this, by reducing blood pressure and cholesterol with drugs and dietary changes, such as reducing salt and fats. Smoking too, one of the key causes of heart disease, has fallen.

Citing the noted British epidemiologist Geoffrey Rose, the authors say: “Mass disease and mass exposures require mass remedies. Mass remedies require the masses to be part of the solution.”

The US is World’s Fastest Growing Fatties

The US saw the biggest rise in BMI of all developed nations between 1980 and 2008, more than 1kg a decade. Increasingly sedentary occupations, less walking and cycling, more driving in cars and rising consumption of fast foods and sugary drinks are behind the rise which affects all high-income countries.

World’s smallest Nation is also the Fattest

Nauru is the world’s fattest country, with an average BMI of 34 to 35. Located in the south Pacific it is the smallest island nation, with a population of less than 10,000. Obesity has grown as a result of the importation of Western foods paid for with proceeds from phosphate mining. The most popular dish is fried chicken and cola.

Source:Scientists warn of ‘tsunami of obesity’

A woman who was bullied at school for being overweight has been named Miss Slinky 2011 after losing 8st and dropping six dress sizes in just over a year.

Dominique Bellas, 26, was teased about her size from the age of 10 and weighed more than 19st by August 2009.

She was even mistaken for being pregnant while at her heaviest.

The council worker said she was spurred on to start slimming after her brother was diagnosed with the heart condition left ventricular cardiomyopathy.

The aspiring model and actress was warned by doctors she may also have the disease.

Miss Bellas, of Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, said: ‘I knew that being overweight was putting extra strain on my heart so I had to do something about it.

‘I’d been in denial for so long and it was time to face up to it. On the outside I was confident - perhaps over confident - and always making jokes, but I think that was just my way of hiding the fact that my weight was making me really unhappy.’

Before she joined Slimming World in September 2009, Miss Bellas said her normal diet included peanut butter on toast and a banana for breakfast, two rounds of sandwiches for lunch and creamy pasta dishes or takeaways for dinner.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1350055/Miss-Slinky-2011-Dominique-Bellas-dropped-6-dress-sizes.html#ixzz1BykNDdoL

From The BBC News Health

The average British man was more than a stone heavier in 2000 than he was in 1986, an Oxford University study found.

Scientists put the average weight rise of 7.7kg (16.9lb) down to men eating more calories and taking less physical exercise than 15 years earlier.

The British Heart Foundation research in the British Journal of Nutrition analysed changes in food consumption and body weight between 1986 and 2000.

Women’s average weight gain over the period was 5.4kg (11.9lb).

By studying official figures on body weight from 1986 and 2000 and calculating the food energy available during that time, researchers were able to work out the expected extra food eaten by men and women during that period.

They predicted that the average man in 2000 ate more food than the average man in 1986 - enough to make him 4.7kg (10.3lb) heavier in weight.

But the actual observed increase in average male weight turned out to be higher.

This was much more than expected, so the study concluded that a reduction in physical activity was behind the increased weight as well as the extra food.

Read More Here

Almost nine in 10 people are not aware of the risks of carrying extra fat around their waistline.

A survey of 12,000 Europeans found most had no idea that a thick waist was a sign of a build-up of a dangerous type of fat around the internal organs.

The report from GlaxoSmithKline, who make weight loss drug Alli, said this “visceral fat” is strongly linked with type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Most people would lose weight once they found out the risk, the survey found.

Get Alli (60mg) Here

Report author Dr Terry Maguire, honorary senior lecturer at Queen’s University in Belfast, said people did not know that visceral fat, which you cannot see or feel and which sits around the organs in the abdomen, is there or that it poses a problem.

It is thought that the danger of visceral fat is related to the release of proteins and hormones that can cause inflammation, which in turn can damage arteries and enter the liver, and affect how the body breaks down sugars and fats.

Source: Read More At BBC

The numbers are staggering. It seems that last year, over 124,000 people in Europe alone developed cancer simply because they were overweight. A jump of 77 percent over a 6 year period.

Studies done in Europe seems to show that overweight women have a higher incidence of developing cancer. This study went on to reveal that central European countries were recording higher numbers of new cases of cancer on account of being fat as compared to the rest of Europe.

The most common cancers linked to excess body weight were endometrial, breast and colorectal cancers. A leading researcher from the British University at Cardiff speaking at the ECCO-ESMO European Cancer Congress held in Berlin recently, was quoted as saying “It is possible that obesity may become the biggest attributable cause of cancer in women within the next decade”

They researchers used data from the WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer for their research and based it on WHO definitions, classing overweight as having a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30, and obese as having a BMI of 30 or more. From an estimate of 70,000 cases of cancer that were attributed to obesity in 2002, their projections show that the number has increased to 124,000.

As for men, the figures were much less at 3.2percent of new cancer cases as compared to women who recorded 8.6

Obesity has long been known to raise the risk of cancer, and the evidence continues to mount. In June 2009, a Swedish study noted that women who had weight-loss surgery were 42 percent less likely to develop cancer during a 10-year study.

The researchers went on to say “In the face of an unabating obesity epidemic, and apparent failure of public health policies to control weight gain, there is a need to look at alternative strategies, including pharmacological approaches”.

Source

Yes, that’s a tricky title above, but this is true and not meant to fool you in anyway.

If you are a dieter, then the very sound of a liquid diet may not be your idea of a fun lunch. Fret not, for here’s another take on the term ‘liquid diet that sounds like good news. Did you know that consuming foods high in water is the key to losing weight?

Rice and pasta which are known to absorb water when cooked, as well as yummy stews and nutritious soups are a great way to lose weight because they keep you feeling fuller and for much longer. However, nutritionists say that if you think you could down a glass of water with your burger and fries, you are being fooled. It just does not work that way.

Research scientists from the British Nutrition Foundation say that the liquid, like in your soups or stew, has to be the main ingredient of the meal you are consuming. A good idea would be to add on lots of vegetables with these meals. Veges are known to be high in water and have fibre which brings on the bulk you need to keep you full. This allows you to eat more and feel full for much longer and yet you will be consuming less calories. For example, take 2 desserts as displayed on the image above, would you believe that they both have the same amount of calories!

Imagine how much weight you would lose if you choose to eat as suggested above, PLUS added on a proven and safe weight loss supplement?  Zotrim diet supplements is now available for you online. This proven diet formula has been tested scientifically to be effective for safe weight loss.

Buy Zotrim Diet Supplements here.

Read the full article  ‘Eat less while eating more?’ as reported on BBC news - Health.
[Image from BBC News]

The Sun, a prominent newspaper from the UK has run a news report today with the headline - ‘Fatties Cause Global Warming’.

Well, it basically says that the rising number of fat people throught the world were blamed yesterday for global warming.
Scientists are saying that the increase in the number of obese people results in an increase in food production which is a major cause of CO2 gas emission - which then goes on to warm the climate.

It also points out that overweight people would rather drive than walk - and this is adding to the damage of our environment as well.

Quoting a doctor from a Medical School in London,who said “Moving about in a heavy body is like driving in a gas guzzler.” Each fat person is said to be responsible for emitting a tonne more of climate-warming carbon dioxide per year than a thin one.

This is resulting in the creation of an extra BILLION TONNES of CO2 a year if you take into account the number of overweight people as per WHO estimates.

So, what do you think? Fact or just another media hype?

There’s more to read at the Sun, so go read and let us know how you feel about this.

Source: The Sun: Fatties Cause Global Warming.