WHO urges caution on obesity report

Thursday May 7th, 2015

The World Health Organisation has urged caution over a report that has warned of a European obesity crisis.

Dr Joao Breda, programme manager for nutrition, obesity and physical activity at the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe, made the comments after it was reported that three-quarters of men and 64% of women in the UK will be overweight or obese by 2030.

The report also warned of steep rises in obesity between now and 2030 in the UK, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Austria and the Czech Republic, according to the study of 53 countries.

However, after addressing the European Obesity Conference in Prague yesterday (6 May, 2015), he said: "These projections are the result of a forecast exercise conducted by the UK Health Forum for WHO Regional Office for Europe some time ago and present a bleak picture of an obese future for many countries in Europe, if action is not taken."

He said action taken today across the UK - and other parts of Europe - will prevent the prediction from becoming a reality.

"In some European countries the trend is already flattening off thanks to preventive measures including successes, for example, in the area of childhood obesity," he said.

"The study should be used with some caution as it was relatively small and was based on nationally available data that may not reflect the latest WHO estimates which are under further development," he added.

During the conference, data were presented from the WHO Global Status Report on Noncommunicable Diseases 2014 showing the rates of overweight and obesity in recent years (2010 and 2014). Modelling projections from the work with UK Health Forum were also presented to show projections to 2030.

Tags: Diet & Food | Europe | Fitness | UK News

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