Cathal Barry
This columnist was shocked yet unsurprised to hear that Ireland is on course to become the most obese country in Europe, with Britain, within a decade.
The perilous prediction outlined in a study published in The Lancet was reported by various news outlets recently.
Irish men already have the highest body mass index (BMI) – a key measure of being overweight – in Europe, while Irish women rank third, the study shows.
Almost one fifth of the world’s obese adults (118 million) live in Ireland and five other high-income English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the US.
The study also forecasts that 37% of Irish women will be obese by 2025, just behind 38% in the Britain. Among men, 38% in Ireland and Britain will be obese.
The authors, from Imperial College London, say we now live in a world in which more people are obese than underweight. By 2025, about a fifth of adults worldwide will be obese.
They’re frightening figures which shouldn’t come as a bombshell, but shouldn’t be treated with indifference either.
The figures serve as an important warning sign for people to take both heed and action. These figures aren’t copper-fastened either. They are predictions, and as such, can be halted or even reversed.
While the Government rejected projections last year from the World Health Organisation which suggested Ireland was set to become the world’s most obese nation by 2030, there is no denying that many people living here have an obesity problem.
There will now undoubtedly be further calls on the Government to do more to counter the rate of obesity by imposing the likes of a ‘fat tax’ on high sugar food products in the hope that such a price hike will deter people from gorging on all things ‘unhealthy’.
There are, however, two problems with this approach.
Firstly, the Government is generally incapable of defining what is ‘healthy’ and what is not while politicians regularly come under pressure from various lobby groups who ultimately have vested interests.
Secondly, obesity isn’t a public problem, it’s a personal one. Another recent report revealed that Ireland is already ranked fourth in a survey of European ‘nanny states’ when it comes to laws on cigarettes, alcohol and food.
If we as a nation are going to tackle obesity it has to happen on an individual basis. People need to take ownership of what they eat and how much they exercise.
Obesity in most cases is a struggle with self-control. It’s about being able, and in some cases, brave enough to simply say ‘no’.
In a time when we have less and less control over our own lives, the foods we put into our mouths should be one freedom we should take ownership of.