(MENAFNEditorial) The World Health Organization's global burden of disease database ranks obesity as the third highest social burden generated by human beings behind smoking and armed violence war and terrorism. Nearly 30 percent of the global population 2.1 billion people are overweight or obese. Obesity counts for 5% of annual worldwide deaths. The global economic impact amounts to $2 trillion a year.
Obesity which is preventable is getting increasingly worse. It is a problem for which there is no simple or single solution. McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has released a discussion paper "Overcoming obesity: An initial economic analysis" that looked at 74 interventions (in 18 areas) that are being discussed or tried somewhere around the world to address obesity. They were able to find sufficient data on 44 of these interventions in 16 areas. This paper can serve as a starting point for initiating cooperative efforts to overcome obesity and open the door for the discussion of real and lasting solutions. This research is by no means exhaustive and some important questions were not addressed that require further research.
Of the 44 interventions studied portion control had the highest impact. Not just when done by individuals but also by food producers restaurants schools and workplaces making smaller servings. The UK based study found that the most cost effective interventions for reducing obesity in the United Kingdom include controlling portion sizes and lowering the availability of high-calorie foods. While the research was based in the UK it suggest the same interventions would have a similar impact in other places as well.
Some of the major findings the paper reveals are:
- No solitary solution will create enough impact to reverse obesity. A comprehensive program implementing multiple interventions is apt to be most effective.
- Nearly all interventions studied were cost effective from society's viewpoint. "Cost-effective from the viewpoint of society" as defined in the MGI paper means "that the health-care costs and productivity savings that accrue from reducing obesity outweigh the direct investment required to deliver the intervention when assessed over the full lifetime of the target population."
- While education and personal responsibility are critical elements they are not sufficient on their own. Research suggests more changes to the environment and societal norms are needed. Such interventions "reset the default and make healthy behavior easier and more normal thereby relying less on individual willpower." For example reducing portion sizes of packaged foods and fast food.
- To achieve the greatest impact will likely require commitment from government employers educators retailers restaurants and food and beverage manufacturers with a combination of corporate and government interventions and community-based ones.
Obesity then is not just a problem for the individual struggling to overcome it but it effects everyone. Society as a whole needs to work together to implement these interventions in a cooperative effort to end obesity.
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