Selected stories on ILLUMINATION-Curated

A New Trend in Many Prosperous Countries: We Are Getting Fatter, but Also Healthier

Selected stories by Øivind H. Solheim hosted on ILLUMINATION-Curated

Distributed to #Health #Obesity #Exercise

In this story I put focus on some new, somewhat surprising discoveries from researchers in Norway. Population health studies have for many years shown that the average weight of the Norwegian population was on the rise. One could expect that the general health condition would generally worsen and that obesity has negative consequences for the quality of life and for how long people can expect to live. New research is needed here!

A surprising development when it comes to overweight and health

Increased BMI, increased incidence of overweight and obesity

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a formula that indicates whether a person is overweight or underweight or has a normal weight.

A BMI of 20 to 24.9 is considered normal weight, overweight is considered from 25.0–29.9, while a BMI over 30.0 is considered obesity.

The formula is not entirely accurate. The BMI value for bodybuilders and people with heavy bone structure can have a BMI value of over 25 without being overweight. BMI also does not differentiate between body fat and muscle. To get a completely correct indication, the fat content in the blood is measured.

Average weight of the population on the rise

Several studies have for many years shown that the average weight of the Norwegian population was on the rise. Over the last three decades, obesity in the Norwegian population has increased dramatically. Almost 70% of adult Norwegians are now overweight, ie they have a BMI of over 25.0.

Researchers in Norway say that when you gain weight, you expect blood pressure to rise, and that there will be an increase in the number of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

The good news

The good news is that an increase in the number of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes has not occurred, according to the researchers. On the contrary, it has gone the other way — there have been fewer patients with cardiovascular disease in Norway, and there are also fewer new cases of type 2 diabetes.

According to the Health Survey in Trøndelag (HUNT), almost 7 out of 10 adult Norwegians are now overweight. In the first HUNT survey from 1984–86, the adult participants (20–100 years) weighed an average of 72 kilos. In 2017–2019, the average weight had reached 80 kilos.

Obesity in the Norwegian population has increased dramatically, but an expected rise in blood pressure and an increase in the number of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes has not taken place.

On the contrary, according to researchers, it has gone the other way. Figures from the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) confirm that there have been fewer cardiovascular diseases in Norway. There are also fewer new cases of type 2 diabetes. The number of new cases was reduced by around a third during the years between 2009 and 2014. Whether this is only a preliminary development, however, is too early to say, according to NIPH.

Norwegian researchers are working to find the answer to how Norwegians may have become healthier, but still are among the fattest in Western Europe.

How can we live a healthy life?

It seems that this surprising development applies not only to the Nordic countries, but also in many other rich western countries.

Now we might start to think: Okay then, we can let us grow fatter, it doesn’t matter.

But indeed, it does matter.

The researchers emphasize that overweight and obesity are linked with many diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and several cancers.

Overweight and obesity are not harmless. It is just a paradox that we are getting bigger at the same time as a number of other important health factors (blood pressure, cholesterol) have a positive development.

Why is so much getting better?

Doctors have thought that it may be due to medical innovations or better treatment. But that cannot explain this improved state of health in the entire population.

The fact that far fewer people today are smokers has a certain significance for this development, as quitting smoking has a very positive health effect.

Researchers are now investigating whether there are changes in diet and lifestyle that may be a contributing factor to the changes in people’s health.

According to Statistics Norway’s living conditions survey, Norwegians are still good at walking in the woods and fields, and 80 per cent say that they exercise or walk at least once a week.

But people also sit more quietly at work, and are not allowed to use all the energy that is taken in. Many people are more likely to eat larger amounts of food than before, and it may also be that the food we eat now is partly healthier than the one we ate 40 years ago.

Developments are the same all over the world, at least in the rich countries, international figures show.

Obesity — an epidemic

The inhabitants are getting fatter, but fresher. Obesity is an epidemic we have had for a long time and it is only getting stronger and stronger.

It is possible that the development in public health in the wealthy countries is connected with an enormously increased supply of food, and thus increased energy supply. Society has totally changed its character. There is food everywhere. 40 years ago we had to plan everything we were going to shop. Food was expensive then compared to today.

In Norway, many people believe that the authorities must step in and regulate the trade in goods and tax energy-rich products and provide cheaper fruit and vegetables.

A question that each of us should try to find an answer to, is what each of us can do for herself to maintain or develop a healthy lifestyle, which of course includes much more than our intake of food.

This will be a central subject in a story to be written in the future.

All rights reserved. © Øivind H. Solheim, author of novels, poetry, articles, essays, short fiction and experimental writings. Contact: [email protected].