By Evangeline T. Capuno
Obesity comes from the Latin word obesitas, which means “stout, fat, or plump.” During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, obesity was often seen as a sign of wealth, and was relatively common among the elite.
Today, obesity has a bad connotation. In fact, obesity is now more of a life and death issue rather than just simply looking “bad.” As Dr. Nick Finer, an American endocrinologist, puts it: “Obesity must be considered as an important medical issue. A catalogue of diseases is caused and exacerbated by obesity.”
If you think being overweight doesn’t seem all that bad, try this: Carry around an 8-kilogram of sugar, a 12-kilogram water jug, or a 40-kilogram backpack – all day, every day, for the rest of your life. See how your joints feel; check out your energy level. It’s not a great way to live.
American humor columnist and author Dave Barry once said: “I recently had my annual physical examination, which I get once every seven years, and when the nurse weighed me, I was shocked to discover how much stronger the Earth’s gravitational pull has become since 1990.”
Overweight and obesity nationwide
For most people, the condition of being overweight is easy to recognize. But medically, a distinction is made between being overweight and being obese. The body mass index (BMI) is used to define these conditions. BMI is weight (in kilograms) divided by height (in meters squared). Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25 to 29.9, and obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or more.
According to a survey between July 2021 and June 2022, 38.6 percent of adults aged 20 and 59 in the Philippines were diagnosed as obese or overweight. As of November 2022, there were about 20.8 million Filipinos between the age of 20 and 59 who were obese or overweight.
Dr. Rosa Allyn Sy, an endocrinologist and former president of the Philippine Association for the Study of Overweight and Obesity Inc. (PASOO) considers obesity in the country as a “growing epidemic.”
Based on a survey conducted by the FNRI, a line agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), around 27 million Filipinos are overweight and obese.
In Metro Manila, overweight and obesity are top nutrition issues in eight cities with the prevalence of overweight and obesity in highly urbanized cities higher than the national estimates.
The obesity situation in the country is indeed alarming. Just take a closer look at the policemen. The Philippine Star reported early in 2020 that almost half of the 190,000-strong police force were overweight and obese.
Children are not exempted from such worrying trends. A joint study conducted by World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2016 showed obesity among Filipino children below 5 years old jumped 400% – from one percent prevalence in 2 to 5% in 2013.
About 13% of Filipino adolescents are overweight and obese, according to the 2011 Global School-based Health Survey. In 2018, the figures were even distressing: one out of four children aged 6-10 years and one out of every 10 adolescents are overweight and obese.
“If no action is taken, overall rates of overweight and obesity will continue to rise,” said the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI). In fact, the Philippine Landscape Analysis on Overweight and Obesity in Children projected that more than 30% of Filipino adolescents will be overweight and obese by 2030.
Global concern
Obesity, however, is now a worldwide problem. A new study released by the Lancet shows that, in 2022, more than one billion people globally are now living with obesity.
Worldwide, obesity among adults has more than doubled since 1990, and has quadrupled among children and adolescents (5 to 19 years of age). The study also shows that 43% of adults were overweight in 2022.
“Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges facing the world today,” said the organizers of the World Obesity Day, which is observed every March 4. Launched in 2015 by the World Obesity Federation, it is a way of stimulating and supporting practical solutions on a broader, global basis to help people achieve and maintain a healthy weight, and to reverse the obesity crisis.
Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity
According to the United Nations health agency, obesity is a complex chronic disease. “The causes are well understood, as are the interventions needed to contain the crisis, which are backed by strong evidence,” it said.
However, those interventions are not implemented. At the World Health Assembly in 2022, member states adopted the WHO Acceleration Plan to Stop Obesity, which supports country-level action through 2030. So far, 31 governments are now leading the way to curb the obesity epidemic by implementing the plan.
The core interventions are:
• actions to support healthy practices from day 1, including breastfeeding promotion, protection and support;
• regulations on the harmful marketing of food and beverages to children;
• school food and nutrition policies, including initiatives to regulate the sales of products high in fats, sugars and salt in proximity of schools;
• fiscal and pricing policies to promote healthy diets;
• nutrition labelling policies;
• public education and awareness campaigns for healthy diets and exercise;
• standards for physical activity in schools; and
• integration of obesity prevention and management services into primary health care.
“There are significant challenges in implementing policies aimed at ensuring affordable access to healthy diets for all and creating environments that promote physical activity and overall healthy lifestyles for everyone,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Nutrition and Food Safety Department and one of the co-authors of the study. “Countries should also ensure that health systems integrate the prevention and management of obesity into the basic package of services.” – ###
