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It is not easy to talk about it, yet it must be done. To ask more than the slogan chosen this year on the occasion of World Obesity Day, the world obesity day (Let’s talk about obesity) are the dimensions of the phenomenon: it is estimated that there are 800 million obese people in the world, three times as many compared to the 1970s, and that only in 2035 will they be able to reach almost two billion. True, the pace has varied from country to country, but the trend is clear everywhere. Without leaving home, in Italy, around 12% of the adult population is obese: if it is true that the figure is relatively good compared to the European average (minus 5 points), looking back we are no exception. Over the past twenty years, as shown by theItalian Obesity Barometer Report 2022, obesity has grown by 40%. If we then look at children, the data, while remaining substantially stable over the last ten years, is even more worrying and today it is estimated that around 27% are in excess weight. If the percentages remain abstract and difficult to grasp, and translating into numbers, today in Italy there are about 25 million people with weight problems, more than a third of the entire population (and tending to be more south of the country). Talking about it, today more than ever, serves to shed light on the problem, to get to know it, and perhaps to fight it. But crunching the numbers is not enough.
There is no single cause of obesity
That’s a problem, in terms of Health it is in fact undeniable: excess weight is in fact known as one of the single conditions, by itself, capable of raising the risk of various diseases – diabetes and cardiovascular disease primarily, but also some types of cancer – and responsible for about 2.8 million deaths a year. But talking about obesity is only partly medical and definitely more social: The low level of education, as well as low income, are in fact both factors associated with excess weight, and sometimes linked to each other. Low levels of education and income they influence lifestyles, food choices, treatment options, helping to lay the foundations for all those behaviors identified as risk factors – or preventives – for weight gain. Although there is who argues that the relationship between low income and obesity could go in the opposite direction, with income as a consequence of obesity, primarily as a result of stigma associated with overweight people.
An honest talk about causes of obesity must necessarily take these factors into account, alongside lifestyles and biological factors, such as genetic predisposition. We need to talk about it, to also contribute to changing the outlook on obesity and, with this, the strategies to combat it. And considering numbers, trends and forecasts, we must do it more than ever. That’s why you do it, that’s why you need it overcome clichés, they repeat today the promoters of World Obesity Day are loud. Starting right from show That there is no single cause of obesityand therefore there is not a single solution and that to do so it is necessary to overcome the rhetoric of you looked for it.
obesogenic environment
Thus, if it is true and it is undeniable that the lack of balance between income and expenditure – in terms of calories – and the main reason at the origin of obesity, such as recognizes the World Health Organization itself, income and expenditure are largely the product of social and environmental conditions. That is to say: they are not just personal choices, and they come from afar. On the other hand, the obesity epidemic itself has been repeatedly represented as the product of well-being: the improvement of social, hygienic conditions and economic possibilities has changed our way of life, including that of eating. The spaces we live in have changed and the offers on the market have also changed. The world out there has become not infrequently obesogenicexperts have been repeating for years: it pushes us to eat more, worse, and move less. But do we remember? The arrival of ultra-processed foods, rich in salt, fat and sugar, and with a high calorie content, repeatedly under accusation, is the most classic example of how the offer – and the marketing – can shape consumption and influence health outcomes. Particularly noteworthy in this field is the case of the Republic of Nauru, in Micronesia, famous for being splashed tops the rankings of the most obese countries in the world, thanks precisely to a change in eating habits that would have favored the consumption of ultra-processed foods. Unable to grow foods locally, the country was forced to bet on imported foods, especially less expensive ones, such as processed ones.
“Out of the person’s control”
To the social, environmental and genetic factors are added those organic – as a genetic predisposition to obesity – stress, bad sleep and therapies which can promote weight gain, staggering the metabolism, the functioning of hormones and with these the feeling of appetite. Remembering the causes of obesity is needed more than ever, because it can help you look at the condition differently. Recognizing its multifactorial nature with different components – have been repeating for some time organizations and today again the promoters of the day – “out of the person’s control, the person is relieved of responsibility for the disease. Without denying the importance of contrasting actions that can still be undertaken to address and prevent the problem.
Talking about it is necessary to put a stop to it stigma and to the stereotypes that affect people with weight problems, which leads discrimination, but also depression, anxiety, loss of self-esteem, refusal of clinical support, eating disorders, reduced physical activityfueling the problem root. Sensitivity to the issue, at least among most activists and experts, has grown over the years, and on March 4 three years ago on the pages Of nature medicineappeared a consensus statement which drafted a series of recommendations to encourage an honest discussion on the subject of obesity. L’I commityesterday as today, is to encourage a dialogue that free people with obesity from the narrative of lazy people with no willpower who could just diet and exercise more. The scientific evidence denies it, and it is time that at all levels – healthcare personnel, the media, patients, politicians – they start doing it, the authors hoped.
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