www.hertsdirect.org

Healthy weight – addressing thechallenges of childhood and adult obesity

Dr SJ Louise Smith

Deputy Director of Public Health

Introduction

• What is obesity?• Causes?• Why does it matter?

• Size of the issue?

• So what can we do?

What is obesity?

• “Being fat”• “Very overweight”• “More than just a few

extra pounds”• “Weight 20% above

normal”

• BMI >30

• “A major problem in today’s society”

• “Multifaceted highly complex medical condition”

• “Accumulation of fat to the extent it may have adverse effects on health”

Causes

When energy intake in the form of food and drink…

…is greater than energy expenditure

Causes

• Lack of exercise

• Poor diet

• It develops gradually: poor diet & lifestyle choices

• Increased access to poor food

Causes

• Too much sugar

• The introduction of mass production of high-fructose corn syrup

Foresight 2007

• Complex web of societal and biological factors…

• …over 100 variables that directly or indirectly influence..

Why does it matter?

Compared with a non-obese man, an obese man is:

• 5 x more likely to develop type 2 diabetes

• 3 x more likely to develop cancer of the colon

• 2 ½ x more likely to develop high blood pressure

Micro Lives

• Life expectancy for 22 yr man = 79– 20,800 days– 500,000 hours– 1 million half hours

• 1 Micro Lives = 30 min

• 1 day = 48 Micro Lives

Micro Lives

• Bodies age faster when we do bad things to them– So micro lives can also be allocated to risk

• 1 Cigarette shortens life by 15 min

• 1 Micro Life– 2 Cigarettes– 2 Pints Strong Beer

1 Micro Life

Healthy waist size man = 37 inches– 1 Extra inch on your waist line [every day]

• 39 - 40 inch waist

= 2.3years

= 76.7 life expectancy

Why does it matter: Children?

• Short term– emotional & psychological effects– low self-esteem; anxiety & depression– Type 2 diabetes

• Once established, notoriously difficult to treat: long term:– higher risk of morbidity, disability &

premature mortality in adulthood

Adult obesity

Hertfordshire adult obesity

Children’s Obesity

Hertfordshire Children’s Obesity

Reception Overweight & Obese Children 2008/09 to 2011/12

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England Hertfordshire Broxbourne Three Rivers Welw yn Hatf ield Dacorum NorthHertfordshire

Stevenage St. Albans Watford EastHertfordshire

Overweight

Obese

Year 6 Overweight & Obese Children 2008/09 to 2011/12

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England Hertfordshire Broxbourne Watford Welw ynHatf ield

Stevenage Three Rivers Dacorum Hertsmere NorthHertfordshire

EastHertfordshire

St. Albans

Obese

Overweight

What does it cost?

• Costs direct and indirect

• NHS 2.5% total spend [£1,000m]– Hertfordshire → £30 million

• Lost earnings £2.5bn– Hertfordshire → £45 million

• NICE reduce no obese by 1% → £51m– Hertfordshire → £1 million

www.hertsdirect.org

Healthy weight – addressing thechallenges of childhood and adult obesity

Sue Beck

www.hertsdirect.org

Discussion

• Is it worth it? – Can society turn obesity around?

• What works and what doesn’t work?

• What else could we do?