Obesity in NZ

Forums › Health and fitness › Obesity in NZ - OECD

Fred99

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#223679 12-Oct-2017 08:53

Report (PDF)

There are many reasons why we must tackle obesity. Obesity is a key risk factor for numerous chronic disease, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The failure of health systems to tackle obesity leads to millions of deaths and disability. This also damages our economies. Obese people are less likely to be employed than normal-weight people. They are less productive at work due to more sick days and fewer worked hours, and they earn about 10% less than non-obese people (OECD/EU (2016)

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#1882291 12-Oct-2017 09:16

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Very interesting report and while I agree that this is a big issue that needs ti be resolved, I have a couple of thoughts:

- number of the estimates are “self reported” which in this case I am guessing is biased towards underestimation.
- obesity measure is based on BMI, be interesting to understand the cultural compatibility of the BMI. Eg. reason the All Blacks are all classed as obese is due to muscle being heavier then fat, question is are their cultural or ethnic groups where the BMI is fundamentally broken?

Jon

MikeB4

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#1882292 12-Oct-2017 09:17

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I am helping take it down. After being on Corticosteroids for a few years (don't do it if offered ask for alternatives) and being inactive due to disability I had gained a lot of weight. I have stopped most of my medication by choice and adjusted my life style I have lost 35kilos as a result and my MBI now sits on 20.

Mike
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Fred99

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#1882317 12-Oct-2017 09:56

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MikeB4:

I am helping take it down. After being on Corticosteroids for a few years (don't do it if offered ask for alternatives) and being inactive due to disability I had gained a lot of weight. I have stopped most of my medication by choice and adjusted my life style I have lost 35kilos as a result and my MBI now sits on 20.

Wow - that's great. Congratulations.

MikeAqua

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#1882321 12-Oct-2017 10:01

MikeB4:

I am helping take it down. After being on Corticosteroids for a few years (don't do it if offered ask for alternatives) and being inactive due to disability I had gained a lot of weight. I have stopped most of my medication by choice and adjusted my life style I have lost 35kilos as a result and my MBI now sits on 20.

That's very impressive. Well done.

I'm trying too ...

Due to upcoming surgery I've changed a few lifestyle choices and dropped ~17kg over ~12 months. I'm still classified as obese but I'm closing in on overweight. 100kg is the obese/overweight threshold for my height.

84kg is the supposed overweight/healthy-threshold for my height. I can't see that being a healthy weight for me. I've never been that light as an adult, even when I was very physically active at 18/19/20.

Mike

gehenna

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#1882328 12-Oct-2017 10:14

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Yep similar story here, I need a hernia repair done and needed to lose weight before the surgeon would (will) do it. Gave me a 30kg target which I met earlier in the year, then moved the goalposts and gave me another 10kg target.... which was a dick move, but I'm nearly there. Almost 40kg lost in 2.5 years.

MikeB4

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#1882337 12-Oct-2017 10:35

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I am trying to get out of my wheelchair, the last thing I need to be is carrying too much weight. I am now managing increasing times out of the chair, a few months ago I manage to walk haflway along and back the passage in Tawa Dress Mart. May not seem like much but that was like a marathon. Carrying too much weight has such an impact especially as you get older and makes dealing with heath issues harder. Dieting is useless as it is unsustainable, one needs to do a life style change and do the math as to how much food one needs.

Mike
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The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

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gehenna

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#1882353 12-Oct-2017 10:51

Depends on the diet. A ketogenic diet is highly effective and simple enough to maintain if you're a pedant and routine oriented like me.

MikeB4

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#1882369 12-Oct-2017 11:03

gehenna:

Depends on the diet. A ketogenic diet is highly effective and simple enough to maintain if you're a pedant and routine oriented like me.

Very true. At the end of the day it is what works best for the individual

Mike
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The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

There is no planet B

gehenna

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#1882370 12-Oct-2017 11:04

Moderation is the key of course and I still don't have that nailed down in any aspect of my life :)

reven

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#1882388 12-Oct-2017 11:50

I yo-yo a lot. I get to about 84kgs (obese for my height is about 87kg), then I crash diet (i.e. i barely eat) and I can lose about 20kgs in 2 months fairly easily, then another 10kg in another 2 months. Kept around 54-56kgs (underweight for my height is around 54) for about 2 years. Then moved house, and a year of renovations on new house, meant a lot of eating out and went back up.

back on the downward spiral, lost 10kgs in a month, down to 71kg, should be around 60kg by xmas. House renovations are mostly done, so hopefully should be able to maintain that for a good long while.

im a fussy eater, i like my meat, i like my junk food, i hate vegies. most days i can get away with 500 calories from 2 tegal enchildas (i love those things). Once you get to your ideal weight, consuming no more than 2000 calories a day isnt all that hard. sure some days you will go over, but then just go under some others and you should be able to maintain it. The biggest thing is to cut out drinks I found, I was consuming probably 600-800 calories a day just from coke.

Dulouz

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#1882389 12-Oct-2017 11:51

MikeB4:

gehenna:

Depends on the diet. A ketogenic diet is highly effective and simple enough to maintain if you're a pedant and routine oriented like me.

Very true. At the end of the day it is what works best for the individual

At the end of the day, it is not consuming too many calories for your lifestyle.

Amanon

MikeAqua

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#1882410 12-Oct-2017 12:29

I have noticed spending a bit of time in outpatients that: -

- Doctors appear slimmer than average; and

- Patients are often overweight.

Lessons ...

Mike

elpenguino

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#1882434 12-Oct-2017 13:13

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Yepp, doctors read the studies and appreciate the unpleasant side of being a client of the health system.

I have friends who work in the health system and they have told me of the seriously overweight 'customers' they see. with a large number of diabetics around too. When you look around the street, there's a large stockpile of people who are going to tie up the health system as they age and their health declines faster.

Health is already the number one government budget expenditure. The country won't be able to afford the future costs of even more obese and diabetic people. Especially if the country remains a producer of commodities.

A low wage economy means quite a lot of people are eating pretty crappy food.

The food industry has to be pushed to accept some of the responsibility for this with their sugary fatty additives.

allan

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#1882447 12-Oct-2017 14:13

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A few years ago my significant other had to have dialysis and I was really distressed to see obese/diabetic patients consuming what would generally be considered to be "very crappy" food, whilst actually undergoing dialysis. I'm honestly not sure what you do to prevent this. It's all very well saying that people should take personal responsibility for what they eat, but when sugary/fatty foods are often significantly cheaper than healthier alternatives, that gets pretty hard to manage - particularly if your health issues prevent you from working and you are trying to survive on a benefit.

reven

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#1882449 12-Oct-2017 14:16

allan:, but when sugary/fatty foods are often significantly cheaper than healthier alternatives

this is so true, a $5 pizza is pretty bloody cheap to feed 2 people.

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