The Obesity Epidemic

Experts warn being fat is worse than smoking as stats show 1 in 5 UK cancer deaths caused by obesity.

The National Institute Health in the United States recognizes that most attempts at weight loss with dietary change will in the long term not succeed. They recognize a number of factors that have led to the current obesity epidemic:

There is an energy imbalance we take in more calories than we need and therefore gain weight. Even as we age we require fewer calories. This increased energy intake is associated with our sedentary lifestyles: the car is preferable to walking. We are surrounded by food choices that often contain more calories than we need; and these foods are easily obtained contributing to the term the obesogenic environment. This has seen rapid changes in the health and weight of New Zealand and other nations. New Zealand as a whole is one of the most overweight nations and this has occurred in the last forty years; too short a time for a significant change in the genes (the instructions in our cells that determine our physical traits).