Go to: Issue Description - Key Facts - Table of Contents - Study Guide
Issue Description
Around one in four men and one in three women in the UK are overweight, and child obesity is also a major health issue. As well as risks for the individual which come with being overweight – including circulatory diseases, diabetes and some forms of cancer – obesity also affects society, with the cost of related health problems expected to cause a crisis in the NHS if trends continue. This book looks at how and why we should stay fit.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
return to top of page
Key Facts
- A minority medical condition 50 years ago, the prevalence of obesity is now such that it is regarded as a major public health issue and listed as a priority by senior government ministers. (page 4)
- By 2050, obesity is expected to increase to 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women. (page 5)
- In 2006, 16% of children aged 2 to 15 were classed as obese. This represents an overall increase from 11% in 1995. Despite the overall increase since 1995, the proportion of girls aged 2 to 15 who were obese decreased between 2005 and 2006, from 18% to 15%. There was no significant decrease among boys aged 2 to 15 over that period. Among children aged 2 to 10, 15% were classed as obese in 2006. (page 6)
- Worldwide, 400 million adults are obese and 1.6 billion are overweight. (page 7)
- Worldwide, 155 million children are overweight, including 30-45 million obese children. (page 7)
- Of all the factors that contribute to obesity, hormonal and glandular defects are thought to be the least important, being demonstrable in only about 5% of all obese individuals. (page 8)
- The technological revolution of the 20th century has led to weight gain becoming inevitable for most people, because our bodies and biological make-up are out of step with our surroundings, says the latest report from Foresight. (page 10)
- Less than three per cent of UK 11-year-olds are taking enough exercise, suggests research. (page 15)
- The NHS costs attributable to overweight and obesity are projected to double to £10 billion per year by 2050. The wider costs to society and business are estimated to reach £49.9 billion per year (at today’s prices). (page 19)
- Obesity costs the economy up to £3.7bn and accounts for 18 million sick days per year. (page 21)
return to top of page
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Unfit Britain
Obesity, The politics of obesity, Statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet, Obesity worldwide, Fat attack, Genetic risk of obesity, Sleepwalking towards obesity, Busy lifestyles cause a death every 15 minutes, Fitness and ageing, Childhood obesity: a class and a classroom issue, Eleven-year-olds not taking enough exercise, Persecuting chubby kids.
Chapter Two: Fitness Solutions
The fitness strategy, Tackling obesities: future choices, Surgery and drugs not enough to combat obesity, Obesity discrimination, Obesity in the workplace, Obesity crisis: get paid to lose weight, Make all staff exercise for an hour, says health adviser, Fitness barriers broken in workplace exercise trial, Avoiding childhood obesity, Treat childhood obesity as act of neglect, say doctors, The answer to childhood obesity, Exercise ‘does not make obese children slim’, Physical activity, Reasons not to exercise, The fitness myths, Keep-fit boom fails to stem obesity, Study tips the scales in favour of exercise, Boost mental health, Obesity risk for ‘moderately active’ Britons, Exercise on par with drugs for aiding depression, Compulsive exercise.
Key Facts
Glossary
Index
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
return to top of page
The Study Guide for: Staying Fit - Volume 162
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.95
ISBN: 978 1 86168 478 3