Wealden Times | WT174 | August 2016 | Wedding supplement inside
Wealden Times - The lifestyle magazine for the Weald
Wealden Times - The lifestyle magazine for the Weald
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Spotlight on Obesity<br />
According to 2015 estimates, obesity<br />
is now costing the NHS between<br />
£6-8 billion a year and if not checked,<br />
could rise to £12 billion by 2030<br />
Various Government and NHS<br />
initiatives are in place for those people<br />
with a BMI in excess of 30, a real<br />
indicator for those suffering from<br />
obesity. Body Mass Index (BMI) is<br />
calculated using a person’s age, sex<br />
and weight-to-height ratio with the<br />
following being a guide to BMI ranges,<br />
Underweight<br />
= BMI less than 18.5<br />
Normal weight<br />
= BMI of between 18.5 – 24.9<br />
Overweight = BMI of 25 – 29.9<br />
Obese = BMI of more than 30<br />
(Source: Living Well section of the nhs.uk website)<br />
How does being obese<br />
affect your health?<br />
The most commonly held concern<br />
is what it does to your heart, but<br />
obesity has an affect on many areas<br />
of health:<br />
People who are overweight<br />
increase their risk for developing<br />
• Type 2 diabetes<br />
• Coronary heart disease<br />
• Stroke<br />
• Breast or bowel cancer<br />
• Sleep apnoea<br />
• High blood pressure<br />
• Osteoarthritis<br />
• Asthma<br />
• Gallstones<br />
• Liver and kidney disease<br />
What’s being done to<br />
combat this trend?<br />
Government and NHS initiatives<br />
are now in place, aimed at both<br />
children and adults. These initiatives,<br />
concerning diet and exercise, aim to<br />
reverse the trend, but people who<br />
are already clinically obese still need<br />
help to lose weight. For people in<br />
this position there are five main areas<br />
of treatment, depending upon the<br />
severity of the condition:<br />
• Lifestyle changes<br />
Making changes to diet, exercise<br />
and other lifestyle habits<br />
• Weight-loss programmes<br />
To evolve healthy eating patterns<br />
and give dietary advice<br />
• Psychological treatments<br />
To support the patient’s thoughts,<br />
feelings and actions towards<br />
themselves and their relationship<br />
with food, eating and exercise<br />
• Medication<br />
There are now new GP-prescribed<br />
medicines that can aid weight loss<br />
• Weight loss surgery<br />
A range of surgical options that<br />
restrict how much food people can<br />
eat, which are suitable for acute<br />
cases but not for everyone<br />
Each of these treatments can be<br />
effective, depending on the severity<br />
of the obesity and the mind-set of<br />
Benefits<br />
of gastric<br />
band surgery<br />
patients can expect to<br />
lose around 50% of<br />
their excess weight<br />
following surgery<br />
surgery is reversible<br />
least invasive weight<br />
loss surgery<br />
quick recovery<br />
(Source: NHS UK – NHS Choices website)
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