Obesity is becoming a problem in many countries. What can be done to address this?

Anyone who is so overweight that they can be described as obese has an increased risk of developing serious health problems. These include conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease.

Obesity is becoming a major problem in many countries, particularly in highly developed countries where people are more likely to eat too much. Governments admit this state of affairs and many of them are trying hard to think of ways to solve the problem. But what can they do?

Obviously, the best way to deal with the problem of obesity is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Obesity for many people begins in childhood. Many cases of childhood obesity can be prevented if parents make sure should that their children have a nutritious, balanced diet. They encourage their children to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, limit the amount of fat and sugar which they eat, and take plenty of exercise.

Education plays an important role in this. Parents need to have the right information and advice if they are to provide their children with a sensible low-fat diet. Governments can help to bring this about by issuing leaflets, posters, etc. They have to make sure that the importance of diet and exercise is covered in the school curriculum. They could also get medical staff to encourage their patients to lead healthy lifestyles.

It is important that information connected with diet is made as clear and simple as possible. Many parents try hard to buy healthy foods but find that the labelling system on many foods, particularly convenience foods, is rather confusing. Trying to make sense of the information can add a considerable amount of time and stress to a trip to the supermarket and parents are already very short of time.

Many people who are obese feel physically and emotionally uncomfortable. They would love to be thinner, if only from the point of view of their appearance. In some cases, counselling and self-help support groups, of the kind that set out to assist people who drink too much, gamble too much or consume illegal drugs, can help. This is because food can be just as much an addiction as other things.

Some people turn to slimming pills in order to lose their excess weight. Some such pills are claimed to be able to reduce the appetite, some to increase the rate of metabolism and some to prevent fats from being absorbed. People should seek advice from their doctor before using any of these. Some of them can have unfortunate side effects and many do not really have any effect.

Nowadays, some doctors are recommending surgery for the most serious cases of obesity, in particular the surgical insertion of gastric bands. In such surgery the size of your stomach is reduced by the insertion of an adjustable band so that you can only eat small meals.

Surgical operations can be quite expensive, but advocates of gastric bands say that, in the end, they save money and this is an important consideration. Obesity can be a personal tragedy. Obese people can become ill at quite a young age and die at a much younger age than they might otherwise have done. It is an economic tragedy for the country, which ultimately has to pay the health costs incurred by obesity. Solutions to the problem must be found.