World Obesity Day is observed globally on March 4th with the aim of raising awareness and calling for a cohesive, cross-sector response to the global obesity crisis.
Consequently, Fat2Fit Ghana aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the need for all stakeholders including the global community, governments, corporations, civil society, the media and individuals to take action to improve treatment and prevent obesity.
The World Health Organization defines obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. It is commonly measured by using the Body Mass Index (BMI), although other methods such as waist-to-hip ratio, taken with BMI, can be more accurate. A BMI over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese.
Obesity posits a higher risk for many non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, certain forms of cancer, among others. Many studies say ‘apple shaped’ obesity where people deposit fat around their abdomen is more dangerous compared with ‘pear shaped’ obesity where people deposit fat around their hips and thighs.
this is because excess belly fat surrounds key internal organs such as the liver and kidney and can impair their functions. Excess fat accumulation over time can easily develop blood clots, leading to stroke.
Globally, over 800 million people are obese with another 1.9 billion people being overweight. Childhood obesity is expected to increase by 60%, reaching a stunning 250 million by 2030. The medical consequences of obesity is expected to cost over $1 trillion by 2025. In Ghana, nearly 43% of the adult population is either overweight or obese.
These staggering statistics should be a source of concern to all individuals, organizations, and alliances, as obesity exerts an enormous economic burden on the already outstretched healthcare systems in many countries.
The current pandemic has uncovered how susceptible populations with high rates of obesity are too severe illness from Covid-19. One study found that people with obesity who contracted SARS-CoV-2 were 113% more likely than people of a healthy weight to be hospitalized, 74% more likely to be admitted to an ICU, and 48% more likely to die.
Many of the causes of overweight and obesity are preventable and reversible. Although other complex factors are involved, the fundamental cause of obesity is an imbalance of calories consumed and calories expended. As global diets have changed over the years, there has been an increase in the consumption of energy-dense foods high in fat, salt and sugars.
Notably, there has also been a decrease in physical activity due to the changing nature of many types of work, more access to transportation, and increased urbanization.
Obesity is one of the most glaring – yet most neglected – public health problems. Despite the many warnings that have been raised by organizations such as the World Health Organization since the early 2000s, obesity rates continue to rise. To date, no country has reversed its rising obesity rates and current trends suggest that obesity prevalence will continue to rise starkly.
If immediate action is not taken, millions will continue to suffer from an array of serious health disorders. Children, in particular, will suffer, as overweight and obesity in childhood is known to have a significant impact on both their physical and psychological health.
Overweight and obese children are more likely to be bullied and experience name-calling than normal-weight children, which can affect their self-esteem. They are also likely to stay obese into adulthood and more likely to develop non-communicable diseases.
2022 Theme: Everybody Needs to Act
The theme for this year’s World Obesity Day celebration could not have been more befitting – ‘Everybody Needs to Act’. This highlights the role all stakeholders including, the global community, governments, corporations, civil society, the media and individuals need to play in addressing the obesity epidemic.
The Global Community
The global community has a crucial role in fighting obesity. Global leaders must first and foremost acknowledge the urgency of the situation. There must be a more coherent, collective, and concerted global effort as seen for global challenges such as climate change.
If global leaders can commit just a fraction of their efforts towards addressing climate change to addressing obesity, notable inroads can be made. It is time for the global community to concert its efforts in order to uproot this menace from our world. The time for global action is now!
Governments
The role of governments in the fight against obesity cannot be overemphasized. Government must provide leadership, prioritize funding and coordinate a public-private sector response, as well as initiate programs with a strong focus on preventive measures. Policy guidelines and regulations on nutrition, food processing, food labeling and physical activity must be reviewed and enforced.
The Australian government for example developed a 10-year National Preventive Health Strategy in 2021 to tackle obesity. The UK introduced a sugar tax in 2018 as part of the Government’s childhood obesity strategy.
In Ghana and most developing countries, addressing obesity is less prioritized by the government due to the pressure on limited resources in addressing issues such as infrastructure, youth employment and poverty reduction. This should however change given the linkage between obesity and many chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and hypertension which are highly prevalent among Ghanaians and costly to treat.
Corporations
Companies, particularly food processing companies, can make a significant contribution to reducing obesity by reducing the fat, sugar and salt content of processed foods, producing new food products low in energy density, offering healthier choices, becoming more transparent with nutritional information, and ending false or misleading advertising. Television and online advertising of unhealthy foods targeted at children must equally be restricted.
Companies must also support the health and wellness of their staff by providing workers with the knowledge, skills, and support to eat healthier and become more active. This can include nutrition talks, regular physical activity practice in the workplace such as aerobics, on-site exercise facilities and changing rooms, access to nutritionists and other counselors, and worksite or company-wide policies that provide healthier food options.
Lastly, companies as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility must support community initiatives that seek to address obesity. Prudential Life Insurance deserves commendation for its support of several initiatives that promote a healthy active lifestyle, such as my award-winning 3FMFat2Fit 60-Day Challenge.
Civil Society
Another key stakeholder in the fight against obesity is civil society. Civil society can get involved at both the grassroots and policy levels. They can educate school-going children on healthy eating habits and reducing their sugar intake, initiate fitness programs such as community marathons and local cycling events, or advocate for public health policies that address obesity.
The Media
The media has a pivot role to play in reducing obesity, through promoting healthy diets and exercise. In a world where we spend a significant part of our time on both traditional and online media, in particular social media, the media can initiate health campaigns to enhance awareness of the obesity epidemic and most importantly, increase behavioural change campaigns to reduce obesity trends. Journalists and health professionals should collaborate to promote greater coverage of physical activity, nutrition, and health issues as well as more accurate reporting informing and educating the general public.
Individuals
Finally, families and individuals cannot be omitted from the fight against obesity. Individuals come from families where they learn habits that accompany them for life. In that regard, parents have a crucial role in exposing their children to a healthier lifestyle. What children learn at home about eating healthy, exercising, and making the right nutritional choices is the biggest influence on the choices they make, both now and when they grow up.
At the individual level, people can limit intake of total fats and sugars, reduce their food portions, increase consumption of fruit and vegetables, as well as legumes, whole grains, and nuts, avoid processed foods as much as possible, choose grilled, steamed or boiled foods over fried foods, drink lots of water and avoid heavy late-night eating as this contributes to “potbelly” and high visceral fat. Engaging in regular physical activity is also a must.
The World Health Organization recommends 60 minutes a day for children and 150 minutes spread through the week for adults. Exercise must be pre-scheduled into your daily routine or it will not get done.
Obesity is preventable. The saying ‘obesity does not run in your family; nobody runs in your family’ holds true. As we mark World Obesity Day 2022, let’s all come together and play our part in ending this epidemic. Everybody Needs to Act.
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The writer, Akoto DerGross, is a Certified Weight Loss Expert and Author of 7 Simple Steps to Losing Weight and Change What You Eat; Change How You Look. He is the CEO & Founder of Fat2Fit Ghana, an organization committed to reducing obesity trends in Ghana and beyond through educational and promotional campaigns. Fat2Fit; Lose Weight the Right Way!