Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Obesity in men bigger problem in some European countries than in U.S.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The proportion of overweight or obese men is higher in some European countries than it is in the United States, experts said Tuesday in a major analysis of Europeans' expanding girth.


The International Obesity Task Force estimated that Finland, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Malta have all now exceeded the United States' 67 per cent in overweight or obese males.

"The time when obesity was thought to be a problem on the other side of the Atlantic has gone by," said Mars Di Bartolomeo, Luxembourg's minister of health.

In Greece, 38 per cent of women are obese, compared with 34 per cent in the United States.

The report was released at the launch of the 25-country European Union's plan for action on the problem in its member states.

The International Obesity Task Force, a global coalition of obesity scientists and research centres advising the EU, had previously estimated in 2003 that about 200 million of the 350 million adults living in what is now the European Union may be overweight or obese.

However, a closer evaluation of the figures in the latest analysis indicates that may be an underestimate of the scale of the problem, according to the group.

Studies have shown that being even slightly overweight can dramatically increase the risk of certain diseases, such as diabetes. Obesity is also linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, respiratory disease, arthritis and some types of cancer.

"We can have disastrous effects from (obesity) on health and the national economy," said EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.

Up to eight per cent of the current health-care costs in the EU can be attributed to the effects of being overweight or obese, he said.

To counter the worsening trend, the EU is banding together with the food and marketing industries, consumer groups and health experts, to assess national and industry efforts to counter the trend.

It is the EU's monitoring of the food industry's efforts that makes the European Union's approach to the obesity problem "totally novel," said Philip James, chairman of the International Obesity Task Force which advises governments around the world on how to tackle the problem.

"The industry is being challenged to demonstrate, transparently, that it is going to be part of the solution," James said in a telephone interview after the launch of the program in Brussels.

"They have to say how much more money they will add to help solve the obesity problem. They have to put forward a plan on how exactly they are going to contribute year by year, and their contribution has to get bigger every year."

The food industry hopes to better inform consumers by offering detailed nutrition labels and customer-care lines. The EU head office also wants the industry to produce healthier, tastier foods to compete with high-fat, high-sugar foods.

But the problem is not limited to the adult population.

The IOTF estimates that among the EU's 103 million youngsters the number of overweight children rises by 400,000 each year. More than 30 per cent of children aged between seven and 11 are overweight in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Malta.


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What's the problem here?  Is it the world's fascination with fast food?  Are irresponsible parents letting their children eat whatever they want?  Or are people just too fucking lazy to get to the gym for an hour a day?

I think we should ban (yeah really ban) "junk food". Unfortunately, it will never happen because it's a huge business.

Europeans work only like 35 hours a week, while we Americans work "40", which really means 45-50 when overtime is included. As a hard working culture, we do have less problems with weight (but we all aren't thin like the Chinese!)

35 hours a week? you must be kidding, just about everyone i know works over 45 hours a week including me...my friend knocked out 2 weeks in a row of 70+ hours...damned if i know how he did it...but your 35 hours is certainly not applicable in my country

and besides, hard working culture or not, plenty of people sit on their backsides all day in every country so working extra hours actually reduces the amount of exercise you get...

Oh really?

Are you also gonna say something like "Europeans speak French?" or "Europeans hate America"?

Generalizations.....



As far as I know, 40h is a normal work week for most people here in this little European country.




/jarmo

Exactly, the more hours people work, the less time they make for exercise.  Also, "grabbing a bite to eat" at lunch means hitting up the closest McDonald's or Wendy's so that the food is quick and cheap, and allows you to get back to your desk and continue working.

If Europeans were ACTUALLY only working 35 hours a week, I would think they would have better health than America.


Ok, I'm not about to argue which has MORE problems with weight between America and Europe... but you can't sit cozy knowing that it *might* be worse somewhere else.  Last I heard, 2/3 of the U.S. population was considered overweight.  I'm I the only one that realizes how fuckin outrageous that is?

I fully understand that some people's schedules might not permit them to get the exercise that they need... but in that case, why aren't people watching what they eat?  taking the stairs instead of the elevator?  playing some sports on the weekends?

I agree with easy E. However, overweight and obesity are not the same. I made dietectic a few years ago I'll try to explain that:  There's something called the "BMI"---> Body Mass Index

BMI < 19  SLIM
19 < BMI  > 25   NORMAL
25< IMI < 30 OVERWEIGHT       
BMI > 30  OBESE

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm

I'm a Gym teacher in Canada 1 out of 30 kids are fit in my clases, 8 of 30 are at least average fitness level and I teach 400 children.  Very sad..... (30 is an estimated class size)

I had just read once that French factory workers voted to increase their workweek from 35 to 36 hours a while ago. The article said 35 hours a week was standard in France, and most other European countries.

Also, the BMI chart is very inaccurate because it fails to take account of muscle. A significant portion of the American population works out, especially after the metrosexual fad.

It's far more complicated than that ! It's supposed to be a standard in France but it's far from being generalized yet. And sorry to sound like an ass but I actually enjoy it when I work for a company that has to apply the law ! It means you can think about something else than work, be more with your family, exercise or whatever !  :yes:

i live in Canada, but my origin is an European one, and i am a little overwight. I belive this is the fact that i live in Canada and dont live in Europe. Most European people i know are all thin and fit, and belive me, i love soccer just as much as they do, and i play it all the time.

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The other thing, who cares if the men are overwhieght, as long as the women are fine :P

http://www.funnyjunk.com/p/euro_vs_america-jpg.html

I wouldn't be surprised, seems like everywhere i look theres a fat bastard, and i ain't talkin about the mirror