The Fight against Obesity – People Need Help – Not Patronising – 39% of adults overweight in 2014

In 2014, according to the World health Organization (WHO) more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years or older, were overweight. Of these over 600 million were obese.

39% of adults aged 18 years and over were overweight in 2014, and 13% were obese.

42 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2013

It is estimated by the Journal of the American Medical Association that more than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese.

Medical costs in the US due to obesity and its related diseases reached an estimated $168 billion per year, and it is growing – and fast.

It is no secret that obesity levels are at their highest. Sadly, whilst millions are starving in third world countries, we are self-indulging in lavish, indulgent foods, excessive portions, quick fix or highly processed meals and also increasing our food wastage levels to unacceptable levels.

Governments, Health Organizations and Medical bodies are all claiming consumers should be eating more healthily – which is obvious. They are constantly trying to enforce the message that we need to change our eating habits if we want to avoid both the shortening of our lifespans and/or serious health issues.

Governments are pushing the “education” of what we should be eating and even within some countries delivering courses educating people affected by issues like diabetes on the importance of eating healthily.

They bombard us with data on about what we should and should not eat – insisting on what foods we should eat, and what we should avoid.

BUT they have a missed a beat!

Consumers are not idiots; they are generally, educated people.

Long before the internet came along with its abundance of information, consumers were aware of the subject – and also of its issues and consequences.

Just like smokers, it is not about education – ask any smoker – they know smoking kills and can lead to major health issues. They are well aware.

It is the same with healthy eating – constantly told you should eat this, not eat that. They know.

But it is all about a number of other issues – one’s self-determinism, lifestyle, social group, influence from friends, stress, habits, financial budget – sometimes even down to simply what is available to hand within our daily life.

Lifestyles have changed so dramatically over the years. If we could (or even wanted to) we would all spend hours preparing healthy meals for work and evening, but one luxury the modern family do not have is time. We live in a demanding, financially unstable world where the pressure is on to work long hours, it is not easy to deliver healthy freshly prepared meals, and also cover all of one’s other chores.

Whether it is stress, boredom or anxiety that drives you to the fridge for that sweet or chocolate craving, one thing is for sure – it has nothing to do with whether or not you are educated on what you should eat! You know you shouldn’t - this is a totally different issue – an issue that needs help.

We need your support to set up and deliver help to people to get over the real “stops” on their route to a healthier lifestyle. Not just for them, but for also their children.

Consumers need greater help and support, far greater than just a condescending lecture on the foods we should eat. As stated before, we can get that on the internet.

More of a holistic approach is needed

Help with lifestyle changes or dealing with social influences.

Help overcoming those craving attacks.

Help getting motivated and re-motivated.

Help with dealing with negative influences from friends.

Help getting over that stress point.

There are so many areas we need to help with.