Obesity is a global problem now,and not only for human but their pets<g>
Britain:
Obesity 'timebomb' threatens NHS
The National Health Service in Wales could be "overwhelmed by a tidal wave of obesity", according to the Welsh Sports Minister, Alun Pugh.
Mr Pugh has warned that Wales is one of the least active countries in Europe and that exercise habits must change to prevent a future explosion of obesity-related illnesses swamping the Welsh NHS.
news.bbc.co.uk
timesonline.co.uk
Plum pudding and turkey diet worries young people
By Alexandra Frean, Social Affairs Correspondent
CONCERN about rising levels of obesity is rife among Britain’s youngsters, with more than a third saying they are worried about getting fat over the festive season.
timesonline.co.uk
Irish;
Minister to tackle country's spiralling obesity problem
online.ie
2003-12-27 09:40:01+00
A task force to tackle the country's growing obesity problem is being planned for the new year.
The Minister for Health hopes it will 'halt and reverse' the country's expanding waist lines.
It follows a recent survey that revealed 13% of Irish people are clinically obese - a jump of over a third since 1998.
online.ie
India:
New findings suggest that obesity is spreading among Asians
Hungry Indians don't live off the fat of the land
Obesity, say recent reports, is affecting Asians at an alarming rate. What was once the bane of the West, especially America , is creating more and more lifestyle diseases among Asians. But before we reach for the panic button, let us look at some of India 's figures.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Mexico:
Mexico is gaining on U.S. in obesity
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Result is straining health care system
Laurence Iliff
Dallas Morning News
Dec. 14, 2003 12:00 AM
MEXICO CITY - The theme of Mexico's Revolution Day parade was physical fitness, but the event showed that many Mexicans are marching briskly toward the same bad eating habits and weight-related health risks as their northern neighbors.
Bureaucrats wore baggy sweat suits that couldn't hide growing calves. Pompon girls sported spare tires. And some of the wrestlers were clearly bulking up, intentionally or not.
And so it was with the spectators, who munched on tamales, potato chips and imitation pork rinds made from wheat flour, along with buckets of sugary soft drinks at the November event.
Suddenly, those skinny and often undernourished Mexicans from decades past are nearly as overweight as their U.S. counterparts. Among industrialized countries, Mexico is at the bottom of the list in education and health care, but No. 2 in obesity, right behind the United States and just ahead of the United Kingdom.
azcentral.com
China:
Poor health afflicting Chinese young
( 2003-12-25 11:19) (Xinhua)
Deng warns that China is probably repeating problems in the West in this respect. "High-calorie fast food has caused juvenile obesity, and the young and middle-aged are getting flabby with less time for exercise and more time sitting in front of the television or computer."
www1.chinadaily.com.cn
Top 10 trends: Fat chance
Obesity becomes a big problem – and big business.
In China, for example, obesity has risen from 10 percent of the population in 1982 to 25 percent in recent years, according to the Chinese Preventive Medical Association.
redherring.com
Who's Fat?
By Dominic Standish Published
Nations used to compete over trade and military spheres of influence. These days it is hard to find a country that does not claim it is the fattest in the world.
Most assume that the US leads the league tables in obesity. But other countries are vying for that top spot. One in five Australians was reported to be obese by Medicine Australia and a TV program aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation predicted that Australia will overtake the US as the world's fattest nation within the next couple of decades.
"The rise [in obesity] in Britain is as fast or faster than anywhere else in the world," claimed Professor Philip James, the chairman of the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF). In Italy children between the ages of 6 and 17 have been confirmed as the fattest in Europe in surveys since 1990 by the IOTF. And it is not just a western problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), adult obesity levels are over 75 percent in urban Samoa and are almost 20 percent in some Chinese cities.
techcentralstation.com
Latest data from the US
Latest Data Show Rapid Rise in Obesity
Monday December 22, 2003 8:46 PM
By The Associated Press
Some facts and figures about obesity in the United States from the recent health studies:
-The number of obese adults is soaring, up to nearly 59 million people, or almost a third of all adults - and doubling over the past two decades.
-Fifteen percent of youths ages 6 to 19 were seriously overweight, the term experts use as a rough equivalent to obesity in children. That is nearly 9 million youths and triple the number in a similar assessment from 1980.
-Obesity can sharply reduce life expectancy. Studies released this year showed that being obese at age 20 can take 20 years off a person's life; being obese at age 40 can reduce life expectancy by seven years.
-The percentage of extremely obese people - at least 100 pounds overweight - is growing even faster, one study found. From the 1980s to 2000, extremely obese adults quadrupled to about 4 million, or about 1 in every 50 adults.
-Medical care for the obese averaged $732 per year more per person than for people of normal weight, one study found. Nationwide, that would mean $92.6 billion more in 2002, with half the cost picked up by government-funded Medicare and Medicaid programs.
guardian.co.uk
Panel links Coca-Cola in schools to obesity
The state questions whether such drinks are a good idea.
BY JESS ANDREWS
Ninth-grader Kristina Boutieller often grabs a Coke just before school starts at 7:30 a.m.
She buys a 20-ounce bottle for $1 from a vending machine near the cafeteria pavilion at Riverview High School.
"Some people really need their caffeine in the morning," the 14-year-old said Thursday as a dozen students lined up at the drink machines.
The Florida Coca-Cola Bottling Co. was counting on students like Kristina when it signed a five-year, $1.77 million contract with the Sarasota County school district two years ago.
heraldtribune.com
Pets mirror America's obesity problem, insurance statistics show
DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer Sunday, December 21, 2003
America's obesity problem and related health risks are spreading to its pets, says the nation's largest provider of pet health insurance.
Cardiac arrest claims for pets have increased 47 percent the last two years alone, while claims for other obesity-related illnesses have been steadily increasing, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance of Brea, Calif.
The company has more than 350,000 policyholders, which it says provides it with the nation's largest actuarial data base on dogs and cats.
sfgate.com
American diet history:
Round and round we go
Americans have long been fixated on losing weight, flocking to any regimen promising quick and dramatic results. And diet gurus have been ready to oblige. A brief stroll through the history of dieting
latimes.com
Economic cost:
Hospitals alter equipment, rooms to cope with rise in obesity
(KRT) As the obesity epidemic continues unchecked in America, hospitals are being forced to retool everything from beds to operating rooms to treat severely overweight people.
Hospital officials say patients' expanding sizes require larger gowns, wider blood pressure cuffs, reinforced chairs, larger beds, stronger toilet mounts, bigger room and bathroom doorways, expanded showers and even longer syringes and surgical tools.
All that, including room supersizing, comes with a price tag and comes at a time when health care costs are soaring.
jewishworldreview.com
Obesity Costs
Sahar El-Hodiri
The growing number of severely obese patients is costing our nation's hospitals. Nearly two-thirds of American adults are either overweight or obese. Research shows the epidemic is getting worse, and hospitals are having to adjust.
A new survey finds many facilities now have to buy specialized equipment. Some even remodel their facilities. The challenges have reached Wichita hospitals.
A new survey finds hospitals around the country are forced to buy specialized equipment to care for obese patients. At Wesley Medical center, they have wheelchairs that can hold up to 800 pounds.
kake.com
think the health cost already too high? now here is more potential for higher cost<g>:
Designate obesity as disease
By Steven Findlay
latimes.com |
