Overweight and Obesity

DEFINITIONS

Overweight: being overweight is having more body fat that is optimally healthy.

Obesity: it is a condition where a person a has so much body fat (over 20%) that it starts to affect their health.

Healthy weight: having a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 means you're a healthy weight

Body Mass index: is a measure of body fat based on height and weght that applies to men and women.

Waist circumference: it is an indicator of health risk associated with excessfat around the waist.

scales: weigh yourself on the scales.

 In 2015, 58% of women and 68% of men were overweight or obese. Obesity prevalence increased from 15% in 1993 to 27% in 2015.

Socialising: More and more people are going out and socialising with friends in restaruants and cafes.

Takeaways: families who have both parents working FT are more inclined toget takeawasy rather than have home cooked meals done.

TV and Media: advertisements, showing different diets that celebrities are doing - not always the right diet for you.

Money: Families may have financial difficulites and may not be able to afford the healthier options so they have to go for the cheaper option.

location: depends on where you live, might not have food stuff available to them.

transport: people might not be able to drive so they wont be able to get to the supermarkets. Buses and taxis may not have access to public transport.

skills: people may not have the skills and understadning of cooking.

lack of knowledge: people may not know what may be healthy or unhealthy for them, might not be aware of the traffic light system.

It's very important to take steps to tackle obesity because, as well as causing obvious physical changes, it can lead to a number of serious and potentially life-threatening conditions, such as:

• type 2 diabetes 
• coronary heart disease 
• some types of cancer, such as breast cancer and bowel cancer
• stroke

Obesity can also affect your quality of life and lead to psychological problems, such as depression and low self-esteem (see below for more information about the health problems associated with obesity).

Obesity is generally caused by consuming more calories – particularly those in fatty and sugary foods – than you burn off through physical activity. The excess energy is stored by the body as fat.

Obesity is an increasingly common problem because for many people modern living involves eating excessive amounts of cheap, high-calorie food and spending a lot of time sitting down, at desks, on sofas or in cars.

Dietary

more fruit and veg in their diets

parents can include more healthier snacks in their kids lunch boxes.

cut down on sugary snacks and drinks.

Lifestyle

walk them to school if you live close to their school.

get them involved in after school activites

go out for family walks together