Up to 250,000 free measuring tapes will be available to pick up at pharmacies across the State this week in a campaign to encourage people to check their weight, eat more carefully and, as a result, improve their life expectancy prospects. In a change of approach from previous years, the all-island health organisation Safefood is targeting people who are overweight, rather than obese, in an attempt to stem a growing epidemic that now causes 6,000 deaths a year.
The most insidious aspect of the problem is that many people are not aware of the danger they are in. During the past 20 years there has been a gradual weight gain in society so that what many people now regard as “normal” is, in fact, overweight. The test is simple: run a tape measure around your waist and anything more than 32 inches for a woman and 37 inches for a man puts you in the “at risk” category. The answer to a negative result does not have to be a crash diet. A gradual weight loss of six to eight pounds within a year for those who are overweight can improve their quality of life and increase their life expectancy.
Two-thirds of Irish people are now either overweight or obese. In the United States, four out of five people fall into those categories. Processed foods containing excessive amounts of sugar and fat, soft drinks, sugary cereals and a lack of exercise all make their negative contributions. But those affected are in broad denial. More than half of those surveyed in Ireland felt they did not have to lose weight. They were wrong and are in real danger of becoming obese.
Preventing obesity is the ultimate challenge. Research has shown that those affected are much more likely to develop heart disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia. The really frightening aspect is that a quarter of Irish children are now obese because of the excessive amounts of sugar, salt and fat in their diets and a lack of exercise. This practically guarantees an inferior quality of life, with high costs to the State in terms of lost productivity and health care.
Being overweight may have become the norm, but that doesn’t make it a good idea. Food manufacturers must be encouraged to reduce the amount of damaging additives in their products. Company profits should not be valued above public health. Cooking from scratch and reducing the intake of fast foods will help. Everyone has a role to play in responding to this health epidemic: parents by example, and individuals by changes in diet and more frequent exercise.