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These are the countries with the highest rates of obesity
Fri 30 08 2019

While many people seek being fit for cosmetic reasons, many stay away from obesity to avoid dealing with unwanted health risks. Being obese means that you are in danger when it comes to health problems related to your weight.

So what are the factors that can make someone obese? Here are the 5 main reasons:

  1. Genetics: genetics play an important role in telling your body where to store its fat, and how to convert the food you consume into energy
  2. Level of activity: a sedentary lifestyle is one where you burn the least number of calories, which can lead to weight gain
  3. Diet and sleep quality: an unhealthy diet with high levels of sugar and fat, as well as consuming no fruits and vegetables will bring more calories into your body. Also not getting enough sleep can manipulate your hormones pushing your appetite to increase
  4. Medical problems: these can sometimes lead to decreased activity, which may result in weight gain.
  5. Social and economic situation: this plays an important role in making you obese or not, because the better the situation the more the resources you have to lead a healthy life. Also this can influence your habits and behaviors. For example, people who are well educated against the consequences of smoking are less susceptible to become smokers than the ones who enjoy smoking without knowing its negative side

Based on these characteristics and data collected from the health ministries of more than 200 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO), conducted a study on obesity, and found that the following 10 countries have the highest rates of obesity:

  1. American Samoa
  2. Nauru
  3. Cook Islands
  4. Tokelau
  5. Tonga
  6. Samoa
  7. Palau
  8. Kiribati
  9. Marshall Islands
  10. Kuwait

All of the countries mentioned have an obesity rate above 60% which means that more than half of their adult population is obese or overweight. Most of these countries are located in the South Pacific, except for Kuwait which is in the Middle East.

During this study, the WHO has stumbled upon many theories that say that the South Pacific region is genetically predisposed to obesity, while other studies have shed the light on the fact that the eating habits and culture were influenced by foreign colonies which is causing their weight gain. No matter what the reason is, the numbers have shown that the weight of the South Pacific populations is increasing almost 4 times faster than the global average, which is alarming.

At the end of the study published, WHO mentioned that these countries have the highest percentage of obese people, however, they are very small nations with relatively small populations. Therefore, the numbers in this student can’t reflect the global reality of obesity in the world. Consequently, per previous studies by the WHO on the same topic, more than 50% the world’s obese population lives in the US, the UK, Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Chile, and Turkey.

Is the obesity level in your country high?

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