Ever Expanding Waistlines: The obesity timebomb

398,417 people are overweight in Mauritius. According to the sixth Non Communicable Diseases report released by the Minister of Health Anil Gayan, the prevalence of obese people in Mauritius is on the rise. In May 2015, the World Health Organisation concluded that by 2030, 74% of men and 64% of women will be obese. Are we already sitting on a tickling bomb? The prevalence of obesity has been steadily increasing since 1992. The NCD Report 2015 indicates that the prevalence of obesity has increased from 16% in 2009 to 19.1% in 2015. Today, we have around 398,471 obese people in the age group of 25-74. According to the European Body Mass Index (BMI), the prevalence of obesity is 19.1%: 11.9% for men and 25.6% for women. While 35.2% of the population is overweight: 38.2% in men and 32.6% women. Among the 4,400 participants of the study, 54.2% were either overweight or obese. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"8024","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter wp-image-14047 size-large","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"960","height":"540","alt":"Obesity-Prevalence"}}]]

What are the causes?

Eating too much Nutritionist Divya Poorun states that our body will use the amount of food it needs, the excess is either stored or finds its way out by excretion. “What people do, is fill themselves with energy-rich foods. Apart from fatty foods, rice, potatoes and bananas are high energy food. People eat too much in one meal. Eating too much fast-food or eating while watching TV also increases the risk of becoming obese. A lot of people eat a lot while watching TV and they do not realise they are overeating. Another great number of people has also the habit of snacking the whole day,” she explains. According to Dr Arshad Peerbux, eating excessively and not doing any exercise is one of the main causes of obesity. “Many people take lots of fatty and calorific foods. They do not control what they are eating,” he says. Lack of physical activities Apart from eating too much, people nowadays perform less physical activities. Normally, sedentary people burn fewer calories than active people. Many people have jobs that involve sitting most of the day and many of them travel by car rather than walking or cycling. Dr Peerbux maintains that whenever a person is not active, he is not using the energy provided by the food he eats and in this way, the extra energy is stored in the body as fat.

Effects of obesity

Health problem Being obese carries health risks such as gout, infertility, breathing problems, sleep apnoea, some cancers (Endometrial, breast and colon), among others. Heart disease and stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis (particularly of the knee),” Waliid Roojee states. Dr Peerbux explains that obese people are prone to many diseases. “Common disease associated with obesity is diabetes metabolism, hypertension, cholesterol and heart attack. Moreover, pregnant women can have many complications. With obesity fertility rate also decreases,” he says. Psychological issue Many obese children might experience a drop in academic performance. “Obese children face peer pressure and their self esteem decreases. They try to compare their appearances with others. Hence stressing themselves,” Divya Poorun says. Waliid Roojee explains that someone obese will find many routine tasks difficult. “The worst part is that if they are reminded 24/7 that they are fat by people, commercials, even false advertising (of gyms and products) that use obesity as a marketing strategy. This might cause depression. Tasks like going up the stairs, walking from one place to another, using public transports, joint pain, getting tired easily after any physical tasks and sleeping problems – feeling really tired when waking up,” he adds. Reduced productivity Waliid Roojee further mentions that in an article by Jonathan Borak (2011) in Occupational Medicine Journal, it is mentioned that obesity is linked to an increased in absenteeism and a reduced productivity while at work. “Obese workers take more sick days, have longer sick leaves and suffer great productivity losses than non-obese workers. Scientists also found out that obesity does affect the way our brain works, and decreases the attention span, the reaction time, diminishes memory capacity and also other features of thinking and reasoning,” he quotes from the study.

Means of prevention

A balanced diet One of the main means of prevention is a balanced diet. Diyva Poorun sets the following diet for a person per plate or meal: ¼ of carbohydrate product (Bread, rice), ¼ protein products (chicken, fish) and ½ vegetables and fruits. Exercise Waliid Roojee maintains that regular exercise (and proper nutrition) can help reduce body fat and also help to protect against chronic diseases that are associated with obesity. “Exercise is a proven way to actually decrease the risks of heart disease and will help to prevent or manage high blood pressure. Exercise will raise the High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (Good cholesterol) and will lower the Low density lipoprotein (LDL) or known as the “Bad” cholesterol. This will eventually decreases the amount of plaques build up in the artery walls, keeping the blood flowing normally. Regular exercise help prevent type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis by strengthening the muscles around the joints, and even certain cancers,” he stresses. Dr Peerbux prescribes 30 min of physical activity per day. Nutritionist Divya Poorun affirms that educating children is a means to prevent them from eating whatever they want.

Who are more at risk?

Muhammad Waliid Roojee, Physiotherapist and Head of Corporate Health and Fitness, explains that being obese is not based on appearance. “It is based on body composition. Someone can be considered as obese when his/her Percentage body fat is greater than the lean mass of his/her body weight. Having your BMI checked is a quick way to know if you are overweight or obese, but to have a precise answer, better to check your body fat percentage,” he avers. According to him, the people most at risk are those who lead a sedentary lifestyle, workaholics, those who actually sit for more than 8 hours a day and those who have diet issues, meaning they do not know portion sizes, what and when to eat. Their system is so imbalanced that you might see them with some food or snacking most of the time. They are also the ones who enjoy fast foods or other oily stuffs very often. Divya Poorun reveals that teenagers are more at risk of becoming obese. “The availability of fast food is to be blamed. It is also the generation of PC, tablet and laptop that is taking over. However, we are lucky enough that children are becoming health conscious. Many TV programmes are creating awareness about the food children should eat,” she adds.