[extropy-chat] Male Obesity Higher In Some European Countries

[Al Brooks]

JENNA PAYNE, Associated Press Writer 
 BRUSSELS, Belgium 
>In a group of nations from Greece to Germany, the
proportion of >overweight or obese men is higher than
in the U.S., experts
> said Tuesday in a major analysis of expanding girth
> on the European continent. 
> "The time when obesity was thought to be a problem
> on the other side of the Atlantic has gone by," said
> Mars Di Bartolomeo, Luxembourg's Minister of Health.

> In Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany,
> Greece, Malta and Slovakia, a higher percentage of
> men are obese or overweight than the estimated 67
> percent of men in the United States, according to a
> report from the International Obesity Task Force, a
> coalition of researchers and institutions. 
> The analysis was released as the 25-nation European
> Union (news - web sites) announced an initiative to
> enlist the food and marketing industries in the
> fight against fat. 
> Obesity is especially acute in Mediterranean
> countries, underscoring concerns that people in the
> southern region are turning away from the
> traditional diet of fish, fruits and vegetables to
> fast food high in fat and refined carbohydrates. 
>  In Greece, for example, 38 percent of women are
> obese, compared with 34 percent in the United
> States, the group said. 
> Even in countries with low rates of obesity,
> troubling trends are emerging. In France, obesity in
> women rose from 8 percent in 1997 to 11.3 percent in
> 2003, and from 8.4 percent to 11.4 percent in men. 
> The change in diets, which the obesity task force
> said has occurred over the past two decades, affects
> children most because it is reflected in school
> lunches. 
> The task force estimated that among the EU's 103
> million youngsters the number of those overweight
> rises by 400,000 each year. More than 30 percent of
> children ages 7 to 11 are overweight in Italy,
> Portugal, Spain and Malta, it said. 
> That matches estimates for American children. Among
> American adults, about two-thirds are overweight or
> obese; nearly one-third qualify as obese. 
> The International Obesity Task Force, which is
> advising the European Union, had estimated in 2003
> that about 200 million of the 350 million adults
> living in what is now the European Union may be
> overweight or obese. 
>  However, a closer evaluation of the figures in the
> latest analysis indicated that may be an
> underestimate, according to the group. 
> To counter the worsening trend, the EU is pushing a
> united effort from the food and marketing
> industries, consumer groups and health experts. 
>  "The industry is being challenged to demonstrate,
> transparently, that it is going to be part of the
> solution," Philip James, chairman of the IOTF said
> in a telephone interview after the launch of the
> program in Brussels. 
> "They have to say how much more money they will add
> to help solve the obesity problem. They have to put
> forward a plan on how exactly they are going to
> contribute year by year, and their contribution has
> to get bigger every year," he added. 
>  The food industry says it will better inform
> consumers with detailed nutrition labels. The EU
> office also wants tastier healthy foods to compete
> with high-calorie, non-nutritious fare. 
> Studies have shown that being overweight can
> dramatically increase the risk of certain diseases,
> such as diabetes. Obesity is also linked to heart
> disease, high blood pressure, strokes, respiratory
> disease, arthritis and some types of cancer. 
>   "We can have disastrous effects from (obesity) on
> health and the national economy," EU Health
> Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said. 



		
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