Healthy diets can tackle obesity

Obesity is posing an increasingly heavy global challenge. Once considered a problem only in high-income countries, overweight and obesity are now on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, especially in urban settings.

The main reason for the increase in the prevalence of obesity and overweight is the inability of food systems to offer healthy diets, said José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and he is absolutely right .

Hunger is the worst kind of malnutrition and must be addressed, but the world community must take into account that other forms of malnutrition, such as obesity, are also causing increasing and serious damage to humanity.

To address the interconnected problems of hunger, obesity and climate change, the international community must introduce norms and standards that transform food systems so that they provide, in a sustainable manner, healthy and nutritious food for all, as noted by José Graziano da Silva . . .

It is believed that more than two billion people are overweight. A third of these are obese, a condition strongly associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and some forms of cancer.

Projections suggest that the number of obese people in the world will soon exceed the number of people suffering from hunger, which represented 821 million in 2017. This has already happened in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Interestingly, researchers say that overall obesity rates among people living in the countryside increase faster than those of city dwellers, in part because of greater access in urban areas to healthier foods and places to do exercise.

In a study of 33 years of trends in body mass index (BMI) in 200 countries and territories, scientists discovered that people around the world are becoming heavier, with an average weight gain of 5 to 6 kg during the study period, and what majority The increase is due to the gains in the BMI in rural areas.

The study, published recently in the journal "Nature", analyzed data on the height and weight of approximately 112 million adults in urban and rural areas of 200 countries and territories between 1985 and 2017.

The BMI is an internationally recognized scale that indicates whether a person has a healthy weight. BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kg by their height in square meters, and a BMI of between 19 and 25 is considered healthy.

The study found that between 1985 and 2017, the average rural BMI increased by 2.1 in women and men. In the cities, however, the gain was 1.3 and 1.6 in women and men respectively.

There is a growing consensus on an important factor for the problem: lifestyle. Compared to previous years, people now spend more time traveling, connecting to their computers, watching television or playing video games. Above all, there is greater laxity when it comes to physical exercises.

Childhood obesity is another issue that must be addressed through greater community participation. Limiting portion sizes in packaged fast food, parent education, and healthy meals in schools and workplaces would help a lot in meeting the weight challenge.

Obesity is a global problem. Public awareness campaigns should be intensified to sensitize policy makers, private sector partners, medical professionals and the public about the seriousness of the problem.