Obesity Epidemic in the UK Today - Literature review Example

Evidence for an obesity epidemic in the UK today John Luik and Patrick Basham in a recent article in the British Medical Journal put forth the argument that the level of obesity which is being touted is at best dubious.They have advanced the argument that part of the exaggeration of the numbers surrounding obesity has been perpetrated by public health officials, because of their concern for the health of the public.(Luik and Basham 2008). Clearly, a distortion of the numbers, regardless of the altruistic motivation, does not bode well in the attempts to formulate health policy, and the overall veracity of medical facts based on evidence. Whether there is any validity in the allegations of Luik and Basham, Jeffrey and Sherwood advance the argument that, there are volumes of evidence which point to the existence of obesity as a health problem which has a global breadth. To gain a better understanding and scope of obesity, it is helpful to have a working definition of what it is and what it is not. There are some who define obesity as an individual who is overweight. There are health care professionals who define obesity, is the presence of excess body weight. This would mean water, bone, muscle and fat. Logically speaking, this in my mind is not an accurate definition of the term.It is inadequate because an athlete can possess large muscles, big bones, lots of fat and proportionate water, and not be in the need to lose weight or improve their health. Whereas, obesity is not defined as broadly. It is an excess in the amount of body fat, and everyone requires an amount of body fat, which provides energy, absorption for shock, and a number of other functions; it is a given that women possess more body fat than males. As a consequence, the rule of thumb measurement for overweight in men (25%) and for women (30%), are medically classified to be obese. There is agreement among all health professionals that there is a correlation between obesity and spiraling health care costs, and that the cost will continue to climb. Due to the associated health problems which manifest themselves due to obesity, cardio vascular disease, diabetes and others, health professionals believe that perhaps in thirty years, we will experience drops in life expectancy. On the other hand, the UK Office for National Statistics reports that, current life expectancy of 77.2 years for men and 81.5 years for women show signs of an increase by 2031 to 82.7 for men and 86.2 for women.(ONS 2008). Signs of obesity in the UK There exist a universal gauge of determining whether an individual is overweight or obese. Calculating the Body Mass Index (BMI), we find that 1 in 5 or twenty-one per cent of UK males, and close to one fourth of all UK women, are measured to be obese. These individuals stand an extremely high risk of developing (CVD), which is the biggest cause of death in the UK. In England alone, there are over 30,000 obesity deaths per annum. Additionally, in 2006 the incidence of angina and coronary heart disease has shown a prevalence in 1 or every ten adults. The government has acknowledged the existence of a growing problem, as it launched a 372 million pound program, which will be aimed at reducing the levels of obesity in the UK.The educational component will be focused toward parents of young children. This endeavor will consume more than 75 million pounds.In the UK,this is not a problem of mere perception or fleeting vanity. There are proposals on the table which would require food manufacturers to accurately label the food items which they produce.This initiarve is based on the findings in the Health Survey for England which reflects an increase in the incidence of obesity within the UK for the years 1995 and 2005 the proportional increase in adult males was an astounding 51 %, this results in 23.1 % of the adult male population being affected. The numbers also reflected substantial increases among adult women during the same period, showing a proportional increase of 42 %, affecting 24.8% of the adult female population.Alarmingly, among children between the ages of 2-15 years, there was a proportional increase of 65 % among boys, affecting 18% of boys, and a proportional increase of 51% among girls, affecting 18.1% of the group. (The Information Centre 2006a). If we view the prescription expenditures of people in the UK over a seven year period, starting in 1999, individuals spent more than 4.9 million pounds, or 38 pounds per prescription. We compare this figure with numbers from 2006 and recognize an appreciable increase in the cumulative was more than 47 million pounds, and more than 45 pounds per prescription.(IC). The National Health Service is also involved with dispersing prescription drugs to its clientele and they have recently revealed that the obesity drugs which they disperse to assist people in losing weight, have for the first time, exceed one million prescriptions. While the world is acknowledging that there is an emerging health problem, as it relates to obesity, and as some scientists are advancing the argument that the magnitude of the malady is being distorted, and as a consequence, the actual number of persons affected is yet to be known. In the UK the National Health Service states that the number of persons they are able to measure who are being given Prescription drugs since 1999 have increased eight-fold, at a cost of 47.5 million pounds. Also in 1999 there were 127,000 prescriptions, in 2005 there were 871,000 prescriptions, and in 2006, which are the latest numbers available, we see 1.06 million prescriptions for obesity drugs. In 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, there were 1.06 million prescriptions for drugs to treat obesity, compared with 871,000 in 2005 and 127,000 in 1999. Government policies addressing obesity in UK In January 2008, UK health secretary and the Secretary of State initiated an innovative cross-government strategy which will cost the government 372 million pound and the strategy which will promote an effort to assist families and individuals in living healthlier lives.(NHS 2008) The scope of the program will include projects which are designed to impact society on a macro level, and involve toddlers, school age children; impacting educational institutions and food, and include all aspects of life, from planning, sport activity, health service and transport.The projects will encourage linkages among employers, and employees.One of the vital links to be established to assist the programs cohesive strategy, is the establishment of community immersion to promote the health of children, and the promotion of healthy food. The emphasis to be placed on physical activity in attempts to combat the sedentary character in the lives of those affected. The drag net which accompanies the program, is the treatment aspect to assist those who actually become or were overweight prior to, or after the programs inception.There are five official areas of focus At the top pf the list is the promotion of healthy development and growth in children. The logistics will involve early identification of families who are at risk; this involves new and young mothers in the facilitation and education on the positive aspects of breastfeeding. There will be programs which are desifned specifically for the school setting, which will entail the promotion of healthy foods in the school. Also, there will be an endeavor to promote more robustly, the initiation of home economics in the curriculum of all schools. This aspect of the program would not be complete, unless the parents are included in this educational effort. There is a 75 million pound earmark to promote parent participation, in the areas of diet and physical activity. This again is an important aspect and goes to the root of the obese malady. It is a given that the intake of food, must be matched or exceeded by the energy output. Parents are of course an integral part of preparing and monitoring the intake and activities of their children. Promotion of healthier food choices The government is advocating a comprehensively coordinated effort with the food and beverage industries to institute a healthy food code of good practice. This labeling campaign will promote the education of the public on the exact content level of fat, salt and sugar each item contains. Closer coordination with urban and city planning departments to establish maximum and restrictive limits on code establishment and enforcement, in an effort to limit the number of fast food restaurant concentrations in particular locations. Studies are to be conducted on the impact of advertising on children. The thrust of this endeavor is to determine the level of unhealthy food advertising directed towards children. This effort will be coordinated with Ofcom. Pumping up physical activity What will an additional 15 billion steps per day involve? It is being promoted as walking into health, and if one third of the people in the UK would take at least 1,000 additional steps per day the objective would be reached. There is a proposal to invest an additional 30 million pounds in ten healthy towns. Given the sedentary nature of children and the amount of time in which children spend viewing television and playing computer games, the healthy towns project will work closely with members of the entertainment technology industry, with the input from parents to make the time spent more productive and less sedentary. The UK is the venue for the 2012 olympics and the program would like to create a healthy image, with the assistance of Sport England, to increase the physical activity of the country’s inhabitants. Incentives for better health As there are incentives being offered in the schools and in the homes, there are also initiatives being proposed for the workplace. The average person spends more cognitive hours at work per day per week, than they do at home. In the comprehensive attempt promote absolute wellness, companies will be encouraged to participate in the promotion and practice of the ideal. The National Health service is also exploring the possibility of awarding vouchers to individuals who commit to practicing healthy living as defined and Advice and support The NHS is seeking to confront the issue of obesity among the UK population on all possible fronts. They will develop a site whose address will be NHS choices. The individual online user can work interactively with the site to ask personalized questions and receive professional real time advice on how they can maintain both a healthy environment and a healthy diet. The NHS is obviously keen on the reality of the magnitude of the task, which they are about to embark. It is a given that they need the public to participate. Additionally, they are also soliciting the advice and assistance of private health management agencies to share their unique experiences and advice. This rounds out the comprehensive approach which is being tested in an attempt to ward off a merging public health disaster. These are earnest attempts to both assist and solicit the public in contributing to their overall well-being. It represents a joint collaborative effort in the promotion of a healthy and sustainable life expectancy cycle, absent of unnecessary stresses. The program is definitely doable and most of all workable, if the public is properly appraised on the scope of the existing problem, and are willing to commit themselves using government resources to combat and ward off the growing malady. Works Cited Basham P. & Luik, J. (2008), Id the Obesity Epidemic Exaggerated? Yes, British Medical Journal, February 2, 2008 Information Centre for health and social care, Health Survey for England National Health Service; Healthy Weight, Healthy lives:A Cross Government strategy for England UK Office for National Statistics. UK population set to increase to 65 million over the next 10 years. Press release, 23 October 2007. www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/pproj1007.pdf. Read More