HOW COMMON IS OBESITY?
In the UK the rates of obesity are on the increase. If obesity is defined as a BMI greater
than 30, reports show that in 1980, 6 per cent of men and 8 per cent of women were
obese and that this had increased to 13 per cent and 16 per cent in 1994; by the year
2005 it is predicted that the figures will have risen to 18 per cent and 24 per cent
respectively (DoH 1995). Estimates for the USA suggest that 24 per cent of men and
27 per cent of women are at least mildly obese (Kuczmarski 1992) and that women have
grown particularly heavier in recent years (Flegal et al. 1988). Across the world, the
highest rates of obesity are found in Tunisia, the USA, Saudi Arabia and Canada, and the
lowest are found in China, Mali, Japan, Sweden and Brazil; the UK, Australia and New
Zealand are all placed in the middle of the range. Across Europe the highest rates are in
Lithuania, Malta, Russia and Serbia and the lowest are in Sweden, Ireland, Denmark
and the UK. Overall, people in Northern and Western Europe are thinner than Eastern
and Southern Europe and women are more likely to be obese than men.Fig. 15-2 Grades of obesity by height and weight (after Garrow 1984)354 HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY