Obesity is growing at an alarming pace, especially in the developed countries such as the UK and the US, where the majority of people have irregular or sedentary lifestyles combined with unhealthy eating habits. Like adults, children also eat more and more junk food, which is considered unhealthy. Obesity is spreading fast to many parts of the world, as about two-third of men and women in 63 countries are either overweight or obese, thus giving rise to global obesity epidemic also known as ‘globesity’.
The obesity levels of people are determined with the help of Body Mass Index or BMI and their waist circumference. In one of the surveys conducted about a couple of years ago, it was found that 7% of people in Asia are obese as compared to 36% in Canada, 38% women in Middle Eastern countries and 40% in South Africa.
The average BMI levels of people in Northern Europe were 27 for men and 26 for women, thus putting them in overweight category. In Australia, average BMI was 28 for men and 27.5 for women whilst in Latin America, the average BMI was under 28.
In the UK, obesity is one of the major health issues for the government, as the majority of people are either overweight or clinically obese. It’s also one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the UK every year.
Controlling obesity
It’s a challenge to control the epidemic growth of obesity not only for health experts in the UK but throughout the world. The governments in the respective countries need to take some drastic steps to control this epidemic. It can be done at grass root levels by sponsoring weight loss plans and cutting down on the availability of unhealthy food items including junk food. In addition, it’s the responsibility of each and every individual to adopt a healthy lifestyle with regular physical exercise and healthy eating habits.
People who have already gained considerable amount of body weight can consider weight loss pills that are easily available on the market. Most of the weight loss pills that are available over the counter of local pharmacies contain unproven ingredients. Therefore, we suggest that you buy weight loss pills only after a proper consultation with a medical practitioner or your GP.
Some of the popular prescription-only weight loss pills are Reductil and Xenical. Reductil is an appetite suppressant that acts on the brain to reduce your hunger whilst Xenical is a lipase inhibitor that acts on the dietary fats and blocks about one-third of fats from getting absorbed in the body. Both these prescription pills have side effects as well as contraindications. Therefore, you should learn about their important information before taking any of these pills for obesity treatment. These drugs are helpful for controlling obesity up to an extent, so you shouldn’t depend solely on weight loss pills and try to adopt healthy lifestyle like more physical exercise and healthy diet.