Awful facts about obesity

Obesity is more dangerous than smoking and causes shorter expected life span  of millions
The  smoking is proven to reduces life span by an average of ten years, the research says that overweight can lowers life expectancy by as much as 13 years.

The Foresight report, written by 250 leading scientists, says Britain's obesity crisis is so severe that it would take at least 30 years to reverse
First fact: obesity is deadly and can cut life expectancy by as much as 13 years

with continuity of recent trends , by 2050 there are about 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children in the United Kingdom  only will be clinically diagnosed as obese - exposing their health to danger. nowadays about 1/4   adults are obese or at least over weight
There will be devastating effects of this problem on the people's health  . according to the report expects  diabetes type 2 will be expected to rise reaching 70%, Cerebral strokes will go up to 30 % and  coronary disease will rise up to 20 %
with increase in the rates of certain cancers

The cost of associated chronic health problems will exceed £45.5billion a year, and more than half  of the money amount  will goes into the entire NHS .

The Foresight study warns that the majority of adults are already overweight and that being overweight is now seen as "normal".

While modern life -  introduces the easy availability of cheap unhealthy food and families relying on their cars -it makes it very difficult for most people to avoid obesity and gaining excess weight

Lead author Professor David King, the Government's chief scientific adviser, said: "We must fight the notion that the current obesity epidemic arises from individual over-indulgence or laziness alone.

"We live in a consumer society which encourages us to eat. We have a sedentary lifestyle. It's an environment which means that if we just behave normally we will become obese.

"We may only put on a bit of weight a day but there are 365 days in the year."

He added: "This will need a major culture change and a long-term commitment from government.

"The obesity issue is getting worse every year and we have not got much time to act."

The report declares  that  obesity, with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30,cut off  9 years of a person's life, while men with a BMI of more than 45 will lose 13 years of their expected life  life.

Recently about 50,000 men have a BMI of more than 45 but in the next years this number is strongly expected to get higher

The report says the  as a result of getting cheaper sugary and fat foods with increase prices in fruits and vegetables human body is biologically predisposed to put on weight because this was an advantage in our evolutionary past.

The availability of unhealthy fast food and drink should be controlled, even by restricting advertising or certain ingredients in foods unhealthy fats.

The scientists call on the Government to make the problem a priority, perhaps forming an independent committee similar to the one being developed on climate change to bring together government departments and industry.

Dr Susan Jebb, of the Human Nutrition Research Unit, said action against obesity needed to be as tough as the action taken against infectious diseases in the 19th century.

She said Britons were in general eating more unhealthily and taking less exercise because that was becoming normal behavior and "generally we act as a herd".

The real problem was that "we have prioritized cheap food above healthy food, and we have prioritized taking the car over walking".

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: "There is no single solution to tackle obesity and it cannot be tackled by Government action alone.

"We will only succeed if the problem is recognized, owned and addressed at every level and every part of society."

But Peter Hollins, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said successive governments had ignored warnings of an obesity crisis since the mid-1970s. "It is hardly a wake-up call," he said.

"Repeated reports like this, which should have had alarm bells ringing in Whitehall long ago, have been met only by repeated pushes of the Government's snooze button.

"We have seen several policies touted in recent days as suggested solutions, but what we lack is a multi-faceted cross-Government strategy, backed with resources and the full attention of the Prime Minister, with clear short-term targets and a commitment to bold, concerted action."

Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: "Three years after it published a public health White Paper, the Government's approach remains uncoordinated and limited.

"Public health budgets have been raided to offset deficits in the NHS and the number of public health professionals has declined.

"It's time for the Government to prioritize public health. If it doesn't, the human and financial cost on society and the NHS will escalate out of control."

In the past 30 years, physical activity has declined significantly in the United Kingdom.

Between 1975 and 2003, the average distance walked per year for each person England fell from 255 miles to 192 miles.

During the same period, distances cycled decreased from an average of 51 miles per person per year to 34 miles.
Using car meanwhile, increased by more than 10 %. while  all journeys of less than a mile are now made by car.
With development comfort comes for sometime,but suffering lasts