About 47% of French people across all age groups are overweight, a number that has increased by nearly 10 percentage points in the last 25 years, a League Against Obesity study has found.
The proportion of people who are overweight but not obese – with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30 – has been hovering at around 30% of the general population since 1997, while obesity levels (BMI over 30) have rapidly increased, the ‘Obepi-Roche’ peer-reviewed survey found.
Obesity levels have hiked within the youngest class age (18-24), with a 400% increase over the past 25 years, standing at 9.2% of the entire age group in 2020. The numbers have doubled in the same time period, from 8.5% to 17%.
The study, based on a random sample of 10,000 French people self-measuring their height and weight following specific instructions, further found that growing overweight and obesity trends were unequally distributed across France. Obesity is highest in the North and Northeastern regions and at its lowest (14.5%) in Paris and its vicinity.
Though the study drew no causation, France’s north-most regions also have one of the lowest GDP per capita at €27,000 per year on average in 2020, against €29,200 per year for the country as a whole (bar overseas territories), according to official data. The figure stands at €57,600 per year for Paris and its surrounding areas.
The ‘Obepi-Roche’ study has been running every three years since the late 1990s with an identical methodology, enabling long-run visibility over overweight and obesity trends.
While the study calls on the French government to reinforce “policies and actions to prevent obesity, with a focus on young people”, other EU countries fare worse.
The latest data by the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows a higher European average across all age groups: 59% of Europeans are overweight, 23% of whom are obese.
In line with the Obepi-Roche findings, the WHO’s results also show more men than women are overweight – a reality that gets turned upside down when it comes to obesity.
On 17 February, the WHO, in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), published a report highlighting that increasing physical activity among Europeans could save EU countries an annual €8 billion.
One in three adults in the European Union does not carry out recommended physical activity levels, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey that surveyed over 25,000 respondents from the 27 EU member states in September.
“Europeans just don’t move enough,” said the OECD’s Deputy Secretary General, Ulrik Knudsen.
The WHO recommends at least 150 minutes of physical activity of moderate intensity per week which could prevent more than 10,000 premature deaths in the EU each year.
(Theo Bourgery-Gonse, Clara Bauer | EURACTIV.fr)
Source: euractiv.com
