Despite the publication of several guidelines, there was no coherent approach to the management and prevention of obesity, Dr Tim Gill (scientific secretary, International Obesity Taskforce) said at a press briefing on December 13.
A MORI survey of 2, 098 people had been conducted, Dr Gill said, to establish public perceptions of obesity and the level of awareness of its causes. Nine out of 10 adults agreed that obesity was a serious health risk and that there was a great deal of stigma attached to it. Thirty-one per cent of people did not consider eating high fat food to be one of the main causes of obesity, with a similar number not realising that a lack of physical exercise was a contributing factor. In addition, 47 per cent of people attributed obesity to medical problems, when the reverse was more often the case.
Ms Jackie Cox (director, the Obesity Solutions and Awareness Trust) said that it was important to look at the mental state of obese patients rather than simply handing out diet sheets. Eating was like an addiction - fat people were more likely to eat in response to stressful situations; they rarely ate because they were hungry. Yet research still focused on stopping people from feeling hungry and ignored the true causes.
Dr Gill said that even small increases in the average population body mass index (BMI) led to a disproportionate increase in the numbers of obese people, as the normal distribution was skewed in favour of obesity. France and the Netherlands were the only European countries with no obesity problem, he added; the UK was slightly above average. Obesity was no longer just a cosmetic concern of a small part of the population, it was a serious health risk.
Dr Howard Stoate MP, a member of the Commons Health Select Committee, commented that 15 per cent of the UK adult population was overweight and this was now being seen in children. It was important to promote a healthy lifestyle and diet, the taking of exercise and to discourage sedentary lifestyles. This could best be achieved using a multidisciplinary approach. The meeting was sponsored by Roche Products Ltd.