The Worldwide Obesity Epidemic

James, Philip; Leach, Rachel; Kalamara, Eleni; Shayeghi, Maryam

doi:10.1038/oby.2001.123

Cited by 1,034 publications

(799 citation statements)

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“…Obesity is now reaching epidemic proportions in many parts of the world. 1,3 The prevalence of obesity in Hong Kong (defined by BMI X25 kg/m 2 ) is approximately 30% based on two local surveys conducted in the mid 1990s. 14,18 This figure is comparable to that reported in the US (obesity defined by BMI X30 kg/m 2 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Association between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in Hong Kong Chinese: the ‘better health for better Hong Kong’ health promotion campaign

et al. 2006

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Objective: To study the inter-relationships between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in subjects from a working population.Research design: A cross-sectional observation study under the 'Better Health for Better Hong Kong' Campaign, which is a territory-wide health awareness and promotion program. Subjects: 4793 subjects (2353 (49.1%) men and 2440 (50.9%) women). Their mean age (7s.d.) was 42.478.9 years (range 17-83 years, median 43.0 years). Subjects were randomly selected using computer-generated codes in accordance to the distribution of occupational groups in Hong Kong. Results: The mean daily sleeping time was 7.0671.03 h (women vs men: 7.1471.08 h vs 6.9870.96 h, Po0.001). Increasing body mass index (BMI) was associated with reducing number of sleeping hours and increasing number of working hours reaching significance in the whole group as well as among male subjects. Those with short sleeping hour (6 h or less) and long working hours (49 h) had the highest BMI and waist in both men and women. Based on multiple regression analysis with age, smoking, alcohol drinking, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean daily sleeping hours and working hours as independent variables, BMI was independently associated with age, systolic and diastolic blood pressure in women, whereas waist was associated with age, smoking and blood pressure. In men, blood pressure, sleeping hours and working hours were independently associated with BMI, whereas waist was independently associated with age, smoking, blood pressure, sleeping hours and working hours in men. Conclusion: Obesity is associated with reduced sleeping hours and long working hours in men among Hong Kong Chinese working population. Further studies are needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of this relationship and its potential implication on prevention and management of obesity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[1][2][3][4] In the ongoing search for the underlying etiology and risk factors for obesity, inadequate physical activity and unhealthy dietary pattern are found to be important causes. 5,6 Recently, there are increasing number of reports on the association between short daily sleeping time and obesity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in Hong Kong Chinese: the ‘better health for better Hong Kong’ health promotion campaign

et al. 2006

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“…From these self-reported data, we computed the BMI as the ratio between weight in kg and height in m 2 . BMI was categorised in four levels, according to the standard classification by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2000;James et al, 2001): underweight (BMI o18.5 kg/m 2 ), normal range (BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m 2 ), overweight (BMI between 25.0 and 29.9 kg/m 2 ) and obese (BMI X30.0 kg/m 2 ). Education was categorised in three levels: low (up to primary school diploma), intermediate (middle to high school without diploma) and high (high school with diploma or over).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overweight and obesity in Italian adults 2004, and an overview of trends since 1983

Gallus

Colombo²,

Scarpino³

et al. 2006

Eur J Clin Nutr

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Objective: Overweight has been increasing in several developed countries over the last few decades. No update information on the issue is available for Italy. Design and setting: We conducted a computer assisted personal in-house interview survey in March-April 2004, on a sample of 2932 Italian individuals (1407 men and 1525 women) aged 18 years or over, representative of the general adult Italian population. Information on weight and height was self-reported. Results: Overall, 3.4% of the Italian adult population were underweight (o18.5 kg/m 2 , 0.9% of men and 5.8% of women), 31.3% were overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m 2 , 38.4% of men, 24.7% of women), and 8.2% were obese (X30.0 kg/m 2 , 7.4% of men and 8.9% of women). Overweight or obesity was reported by 14.2% of subjects aged 18-24 years (20.6% of men and 7.6% of women). The highest proportions of overweight and obese subjects were in the 45-64 year age group for men (51.4% overweight, 10.0% obese) and in the X65 year age group for women (38.8% overweight, 13.8% obese). Age-and sex-standardised prevalence of overweight or obesity was 36.0% for more educated subjects, and 54.0% for less educated ones. It was 32.3% in northern, 44.3% in central and 47.0% in southern Italy. Overweight increased from 1983 to the early 1990s, and levelled off thereafter. Prevalence of obesity remained around 8-9% across the last 20 years. Conclusions: Trends of overweight and obesity in Italy are more favourable than in several developed countries. Still, approximately 15 million of Italian adults are overweight and 4 million obese.

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“…Obesity prevalence is increasing rapidly worldwide (3) . Scotland has one of the highest prevalence rates of obesity in Europe and rates of adults who were either overweight or obese increased markedly between 1995 and 2003 (55·6 -64·0 % in men; 47·2 -57·3 % in women) (4) .…”

Section: Obesity: Waist Circumference: Physical Activity: Sedentary Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sedentary behaviours in relation to body mass index-defined and waist circumference-defined obesity

2008

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships of physical activity types and sedentary behaviour with BMI and waist circumference (WC). The sample comprised 6215 adults (2775 men, 3440 women) aged 16 years and over living in Scotland. Self-reported physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity (MVIA) included domestic activity, walking, and sports and exercises. MVIA levels were classified as being inactive, being insufficiently active, being sufficiently active for general health benefits and being sufficiently active for obesity prevention. Sedentary time was defined as television and other screen-based entertainment time (TVSE). Dependent variables were BMI-defined obesity (BMI-OB) and WC-defined obesity (WC-OB). TVSE was positively related to both WC-OB (adjusted OR 1·69 (95 % CI 1·39, 2·05) for $4 h of TVSE per d compared with ,2 h/d) and BMI-OB (OR 1·88; 95 % CI 1·51, 2·35) independently of MVIA. Those classified as most active who reported $ 4 h/d of TVSE had higher prevalence of BMI-OB (18·9 v. 8·3 %; P, 0·05) and WC-OB (28·0 v. 10·0 %; P,0·01) than those equally active with ,2 h/d of TVSE. Sports and walking were related inversely to WC-OB (OR for no time compared with $ 30 min/d: 1·55 (95 % CI 1·24, 1·94); 2·06 (95 % CI 1·64, 2·58)), but only walking was related to BMI-OB (OR 1·94; 95 % CI 1·58, 2·37). Domestic physical activity was not related to BMI-OB or WC-OB. In conclusion, physical activity and sedentary behaviour are independently related to obesity. Public health recommendations should both promote physical activity and discourage engagement in sedentary pursuits. Obesity: Waist circumference: Physical activity: Sedentary behaviourObesity is a major risk factor for many metabolic disorders and non-communicable diseases such as CVD, diabetes and certain forms of cancer (1,2) . Obesity prevalence is increasing rapidly worldwide (3) . Scotland has one of the highest prevalence rates of obesity in Europe and rates of adults who were either overweight or obese increased markedly between 1995 and 2003 (55·6 -64·0 % in men; 47·2 -57·3 % in women) (4) .Physical inactivity is an established risk factor for the development and maintenance of obesity (5) . Recently, considerable attention has been given to the role of sedentary behaviour (for example, television viewing, computer, sitting, playing video games) in obesity. Although epidemiological studies indicate that sedentary behaviours are associated with obesity independently of physical activity (6 -9) , current physical activity recommendations (10 -14) do not include limiting sedentary behaviour. This may be due to limitations of the current evidence. For example, measurements of physical activity in epidemiological studies are largely restricted to leisure-time pursuits, with domestic activities (such as housework and gardening) rarely taken into account. Domestic activities represent a substantial proportion of total physical activity in middle-aged (15) and older-aged (16) individuals and are explicitly encouraged by ...

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The Worldwide Obesity Epidemic

Cited by 1,034 publications

References 14 publications

Association between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in Hong Kong Chinese: the ‘better health for better Hong Kong’ health promotion campaign

Association between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in Hong Kong Chinese: the ‘better health for better Hong Kong’ health promotion campaign

Overweight and obesity in Italian adults 2004, and an overview of trends since 1983

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sedentary behaviours in relation to body mass index-defined and waist circumference-defined obesity

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