It’s no secret – obesity is the most prevalent epidemic affecting the Western world, but one obesity organization leaders’ idea to curtail the problem has some people raising their eyebrows.
“[It’s] quite right to urge that waist measurements be now taken annually from the time a child first goes to school,” Tam Fry, chair of the National Obesity Forum in the U.K., told The Telegraph.
Fry’s comment referenced guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) in April, which urged everyone aged five and up to conduct waist measurements to ensure the number is less than half their height.
In the article published Monday, Fry remarked on an “alarming” trend indicating that women’s waist sizes have increased by three inches since the 1990s.
“The figures for both men and women are alarming – too many of us are eating as though it is Christmas every day,” he said, acknowledging that getting a head start on measuring young children can help keep an eye on the number to help prevent a slew of diseases associated with having too much visceral (deep or internal) fat, including type 2 diabetes and kidney disease.
But the solution – following an example set by Japan, which clocks in with a significantly lower obesity rate (4.97%) compared to Americans (36.47% ) and Britons (27.88%), according to data from the World Obesity Federation – would involve more measures seen as extreme by some.
“He said Britain could learn from other countries such as Japan, which insists workers’ waists are measured, under the Metabo Law, with employers fined if the measurement is too high,” The Telegraph wrote.
The “Metabo Law,” named after the lesser known condition “metabolic syndrome” that includes a cluster of weight-related ailments – high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, excessive abdominal fat, a poor cellular response to the insulin hormone, etc. – aims to prevent more serious conditions such as heart disease and stroke that can come later in life.
“If you have metabolic syndrome or any of the components of metabolic syndrome, aggressive lifestyle changes can delay or even prevent the development of serious health problems,” the law stated, according to The Florida Times-Union.
The law mandates that all employees aged between 45 and 74 have their waistlines measured by their employer annually and receive guidance if they do not lose weight after three months, but, despite rumors, Japanese citizens themselves cannot be fined or imprisoned for being overweight.
Efforts to curb obesity rates in Western nations have fallen flat as the number of obese persons, including among children – continues to rise.
According to the U.K.’s House of Commons library, for instance, 10.1% of British children aged 4-5 were considered obese in 2021-2022, and nearly a quarter (23.4%) of children aged 10-11 were obese.
