As the Obesity Epidemic Grew

These maps basically sum up I am going to say in my next post about the extent of the obesity epidemic.

Why the First Chronic Epidemic?

Some defintions according to the World Health Organization,:
Epidemic: When there are more cases of that disease than normal
Pandemic:When there is a worldwide epidemic of a disease.

Since the inception of multinational organizations, and health services, public health officials have generally dealt with large scale epidemics and pandemics related to infectious diseases. When asked about epidemics in the past, things like smallpox, polio, and more recently HIV/AIDS come to mind. However, the rise in obesity and associated illnesses has been dramatic over the past few decades. Many factors contribute to this including lifestyle and occupational shifts in our population, changes in dietary patterns and how we consume our food, the way of infrastructure has developed, and socioeconomic and sociocultural factors. Over the next few entries, I am going to attempt to address each of these topics individually.

What is unique about the epidemic of obesity and associated illnesses is the fact that the health conditions are chronic. It is difficult to imagine using vaccines or other infection control mechanisms that have been a cornerstone in dealing with prior epidemics. Tackling chronic conditions merits attention at the systemic causes of the epidemic and will require unique interventions, many of which are unfamiliar to health care professionals. I will try to explore some of the strategies that have been used and assess their successes and failures. I will complement this with things I find in my own environment, that are characteristic of causes of this epidemic and approaches or solutions which have been beneficial to alleviate or prevent its progression.

By the Numbers

Obesity has been highly publicized in recent years. Receiving so much media attention, it is difficult for one to not be aware of high proportion of Canadians who are classified as being overweight or obese. As the tables below clearly demonstrate, we are dealing with a national crisis, that will severely impact our economy through rising health care costs and the associated lost productivity due to sick time, years of life lost, etc.


Body mass index over 25, self-reported, adult, by age group and sex
(Percent)

	2003	2005	2007	2008
	percent
Total, 18 years and over	49.4	50.0	50.8	51.1
Males	57.3	58.1	58.7	58.6
Females	41.3	41.8	42.9	43.5
18 to 19 years	19.6	23.5	21.5	25.6
Males	24.5	28.9	23.5	32.3
Females	14.4	18.2	19.6	17.6
20 to 34 years	39.7	39.3	40.6	40.3
Males	48.8	47.8	50.0	47.9
Females	29.6	29.9	30.4	32.0
35 to 44 years	49.5	50.8	51.2	51.8
Males	60.8	62.0	63.1	62.3
Females	37.3	38.8	39.2	40.9
45 to 64 years	57.7	58.1	58.3	58.1
Males	64.7	65.8	65.3	65.8
Females	50.6	50.2	51.3	50.4
65 years and over	53.8	54.1	56.1	56.7
Males	58.6	59.3	60.8	61.7
Females	50.0	49.8	52.2	52.7
Note: This indicator is measured out of 18 years and over only. Source: Statistics Canada, CANSIM, table 105-0501 and Catalogue no. 82-221-X. Last modified: 2010-01-05.

Introduction

I am creating this blog to explore some of the social determinants of health as they relate to the rising rates of obesity, heart disease, hypertension (metabolic syndrome), both locally and internationally. I am primarily going to focus on obesogenic environments, which is again a broad term that takes into account both macro and micro perspective of the environment. According to CE Joshu et. al, macro-environments include those factors that impact risk for obesity for populations, and includes things like land use patterns along with physical, social, cultural, economic and environmental factors. Meanwhile micro-environments describe the risk of obesity for individuals and takes into account biological and genetic considerations, along with individual access to physical activity space and dietary foods.

Although I will describe the obesogenic environment as it impacts the populations, and some of the things that are causing the epidemic of obesity and associated diseases, I will bring it back providing relevant and practical examples of how our personal environment fits within this picture.

It is also part of my Community Health Assignment. I chose to do the assignment in this format to attempt to make the information relating to this topic more accessible to my peers and interested people. In addition, this format allows me to combine information about the factors contributing to the dramatic rise in obesity and associated diseases that I find in academia with information from primary sources including newspapers, other social media, and things I see in my own environment.