ORbesity and overweight are characterized by a excessive accumulation of body fat, which can cause serious damage to health. A condition that has been further aggravated by Covid 19, which has profoundly affected the lifestyles of the world population. On the occasion of the World Obesity Daywhich occurs on March 4let’s find out what are the numbers and the risks of what, to all intents and purposes, is considered one metabolic pandemic.
In numbers in Italy
In Italy it is over 1 in 3 people are overweight. 36% of the population, with a male preponderance: 45.5% compared to 26.8% in women. AND obese 1 in 10 (10%), diabetic more than 1 in 20 (5.5%) e over 66.4% of people with type 2 diabetes are also overweight or obese. Prevention interventions, up to now, have proved ineffective, because they are based on the paradigm of personal responsibility. From this point of view, the subject gets fat because he does not respect the rules. Conversely, experts agree that obesity is a complex condition derives from the interaction of genetic, psychological and environmental factors. In many cases, unfortunately, the obese person is the victim of social and media stigma which ends up affecting one’s quality of life.
“Covibesity”: obesity and Covid 19
Moien Ab Khan and Jane Elizabeth Moverley Smith are authors of the study published on PubMed“Covibesity,” a new pandemic, in which the term that comes from the crisis of Covid and obesity is coined. «The lockdown linked to COVID-19 has produced behavioral, psychosocial and environmental changes thatthrough a variety of mechanisms, led to rapid weight gain widespread among some populations all over the world. We have called this phenomenon “Covibesity”. There was a increased purchases of food, take-away food and increased sales of alcohol. Additionally, the combination of work from home, online education, and social media usage increased screen time. The food industry has stepped up online advertising focused on children. AND A rapid response from all stakeholders is needed to prevent covibesity from becoming a pandemic»Explain the authors.
Overweight or obesity?
“There difference between overweight and obesity lies in the use of a measurement scheme called BMI, Body Mass Indexthat is theBody Mass IndexBMI, which calculates the percentage of body fat mass in relation to height of the individual. It is obtained dividing the weight expressed in kilograms, by the square of the height, expressed in meters. The BMI is a widely used index, even if it provides incomplete information. For example, it does not give information on the distribution of fat in the body and does not distinguish between fat mass and lean mass “, explains the Ministry of Health. According to the definitions ofWHO World Health Organizationwe talk about overweight when your BMI is 25 or more, down to 29.99. When it is equal to or greater than 30 it is referred to instead of obesity.
Getty Images
The associated risks
Obesity represents one of the major public health problems worldwide. Unfortunately, it is constantly and worryingly increasing, not only in Western countries but also in low-middle-income countries. It also represents an important risk factor for various chronic diseases: cardiovascular diseases (especially heart attack and stroke), hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, some forms of tumors (in particular cancer of the endometrium, colorectal, kidney, gallbladder, prostate and breast). It also increases the risk of diseases of the gallbladder (calculations) and musculoskeletal diseases (in particular degenerative osteoarthritis).
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED