Road to 5**：Obesity
【明報專訊】Obesity affects one's health, predisposing one to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. According to the World Health Organisation(WHO), an adult is considered overweight if his or her Body Mass Index(BMI) is equal to or over 25, and is considered obese if his or her BMI is over 30. In the past obesity was regarded as a problem merely for high-income countries. In recent years, however, the trend has spread to low-income countries as well. In 2016 nearly half of overweight children under the age of five live in Asia.
Children in Mediterranean countries love junk food
The Mediterranean diet is a dietary tradition originating from countries like Greece, Italy and Spain. It is made up of large amounts of olive oil, whole grains, fruit and vegetables, some fish, dairy products and red wine and a small amount of red meat. However, a survey conducted by WHO in May 2018 showed that junk food and sugary drinks had become popular among children in Mediterranean countries. That made the obesity problem in Mediterranean countries the worst all across Europe. In Cyprus, 43 percent of nine-year-old children were overweight or obese. The percentage was higher than 40 percent in Greece, Italy and Spain.
Diabesity and its complications
According to Dr Yuen Mae Ann, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Obesity Society, obesity diminishes the effectiveness of insulin(胰島素) and aggravates the problem of Hyperglycemia (high levels of sugar in blood), ultimately causing diabesity(糖胖症). The society said that eight out of ten diabetes patients in Hong Kong were also affected by obesity at the same time.
It also estimated that there were 500,000 suffering from diabesity, who are four times as likely to have a stroke as ordinary diabetes patients. Diabesity could cause nearly 200 complications. Patients suffering from diabesity are 1.8 to 3.2 times as likely to develop cardiovascular diseases as diabetes patients who have normal body weight.
Rising child obesity rate in mainland China
In May 2017 Peking University and the UNICEF jointly published a report, saying that since the 1990s the percentages of overweight and obese mainland children had continued to climb. Between 1985 and 2014, the obesity rate of children over seven years of age rose from 2.1 percent to 12.2 percent. The people who were overweight and obese rose from 6.15 million to 34.96 million.
According to an investigative report conducted by the Xinhua News Agency in July 2016, one of the reasons for the obesity of children in villages was the change of dietary habits thanks to rising incomes. They tend to eat food that is high in fat and calories and low in dietary fibre. High-calorie confectionary and sugary drinks have become many children's main snacks in villages.
Translated by Terence Yip
[通通識 第612期]
