Many recent studies have found that obesity is a growing problem, reaching the magnitude of worldwide epidemic. Scientists are warning Canadians to treat obesity as a serious health concern, and not simply an aesthetic problem. One major concern is that many television shows and movies make fat people the object of ridicule, but do not confront the health implications of obesity. Peter Griffin and Homer Simpson are thought of as funny, but people never think of the possibility that if they were real they would be at risk for heart disease and diabetes.
This reflects in the total direct cost of obesity and near obesity on the Canadian health care system: $1.8 billion in 1997. These are the results of a trend that seems to be getting worse. Jack Goodman, associate professor at the department of physical education at U of T says, “Obesity rates doubled between 1985 and 1998, going from 5.5 per cent to 14 per cent of the total population.”
Obesity is not the same thing as weight gain. All these studies strictly deal with fat content in the body. The most common objective way to measure one’s fat content is the Body Mass Index (BMI). Assistant professor Guy Falkner explains, “BMI equals your weight in kilograms divided by your height in metres squared. A BMI between 20 and 25 is considered a healthy body weight. A BMI equal to or greater than 25 is considered overweight, and 30 or more puts you in the obese category.”
Researchers in this field are even more specific: the BMI is skewed to a Caucasian body type. As arm and leg length vary, professor Thomas Wolevar explains, “an Asian individual with a BMI of 25 has more body fat than a Caucasian individual at the same BMI.” Therefore they have a lower cut-off, closer to 23.
Another measure that is completely independent of the psychologically destructive weight measure, is waist circumference (independent of wide hips which are generally healthy). It is really the concentration of fats in this area which is the unhealthiest part of obesity, and which leads to side effects like diabetes and heart conditions.
When using these objective scales, we can compare the prevalence of unhealthy fat in different parts of the world. As with military supremacy and gross domestic product, America is the world leader: 17 per cent of Americans are obese. Professor Goodman says the general trend for rich countries is between 10 and 20 per cent. Poorer countries have lower rates of obesity, but it is emerging within the upper tiers of their societies.
If obesity emerges when the standard of living in developing countries reaches the level of developed countries, is there something inherently wrong with an affluent lifestyle? Dr. Katzmarzyk of Queen’s University notes that the rise in obesity in the past 30 years has gone hand in hand with the sharp rise in technologies that promote inactivity: cars, escalators, elevators, the internet, e-mail, delivery services, and the remote control. He notes that when he was growing up someone had to get up to change the channels. The remote control has only become dominant in the last 20 years, and now we take it for granted, like so many other “lazy” technologies.
What can be done to curb this trend? Dr. Katzmarzyk has a few suggestions for the government if it wants to take obesity as seriously as it does tobacco: legislate employers to incorporate exercise into the work day, inform the public about proper exercise and diet, and bring back mandatory physical education until the end of high school.
