What is overweight prevalence
The overweight and obesity prevalence in a country is the proportion of the population that are overweight or obese. In the EU, there are vast differences in the prevalence of overweight and obese people between individual member states. European countries already differ based on different features, such as language, climate, economic growth, and other characteristics. Even though there are differences between the EU countries, the overweight and obesity protective and risk- factors remain the same . It is likely that the differences in the overweight prevalence between countries is due to the different distributions of the risk and protective factors between these countries.
Determinants of overweight and obesity BMI( ≥ 25 kg/m2)
There are many different contributors for weight gain, abusing to much of a risk factor of weight gain can lead to overweight. We will talk about the most important determinants: The determinants are human biology, environment, lifestyle (e.g. calorie intake and physical exercise), and health care organization.
Overweight and obesity prevalence in Denmark, Netherlands, Spain and UK
Shown by the data of the World Health Organization (WHO) (2017), both Denmark and the Netherlands have a lower overweight and obesity prevalence than the UK and Spain. In 2014, the overweight prevalence in ≥18 year old males, was 64.7% for Denmark, Netherlands 62.6%, Spain 67.1%, and UK 67.7%. Furthermore, there is a larger difference in overweight and obesity prevalence in ≥18 years old females between these four countries (table, 7). Denmark and Netherlands have overweight and obesity prevalences in ≥18 year old females, of 46.7% and 48.5%, while Spain and UK have an overweight and obesity prevalence in ≥18 year old females of 54.6% and 58.5% respectively (WHO, 2017)
So why is there a difference in overweight prevalence?
The Netherlands and Denmark have a higher proportion of the population that is physically active during leisure time than both the UK and Spain. For several years now both Netherlands and Denmark have one of the best bike path infrastructures in the world. This sort of infrastructure has managed to encourage the daily use of bicycles. It is speculated that this type of infrastructure has increased the level of physical exercise in the population. Due to the vast rise in technology, society has become careless about physical activity. By using public transportation or driving a car less energy is used and invites a lethargic behavior in society. Not to mention the major shifts in labor, half a century ago jobs were more physically demanding, whereas nowadays working indoors behind a desk has become more prominent in society. Moreover, the combination of living in a society where individuals use public transportation or own cars, as well as working indoors behind a desk, has greatly contributed to the issue of overweight (Garrard et al., 2012. This is the only determinant that has a significant reason, the other determinants suggest that the four countries are doing equally bad (statistical analysis and a literature review was done on this subject for each determinant).
So what can we conclude from all of this?
Trying to answer why there is a difference in overweight and obesity prevalence among countries, can be a difficult and an ambiguous challenge. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that the difference in overweight prevalence between DE, NE, SP, and UK maybe partially due to differences in sedentary lifestyles and SES. To attenuate or decrease the overweight and obesity prevalence preventive strategies are needed. Because each country has many diverse distinguishable attributes, it is advised that these countries adopt preventive strategies at the national level.
