Obesity in Germany

Obesity in Germany has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent years. A 2007 study shows Germany has the highest number of overweight people in Europe.^[1][2] However, the United Kingdom, Greece and certain countries in Eastern Europe have a higher rate of "truly obese" people.^[3] In 2007, Forbes.com ranks Germany as the 43rd fattest country in the World with a rate at 60.1%. The German obesity rate is considered at the same level as with the American obesity rate.^[4] Only 14% live a "completely healthy" life.^[5]

In Germany, 60% of men and 43% of women are considered overweight while in France, 38.5% of men and 26% of women are considered overweight.^[6] Germans are considered thinner than people in the United Kingdom.^[6] The obesity level in Germany is in the middle compared to other European countries.^[7] Out of 44 countries, Germany is ranked 39th for women and 42nd for men for cholesterol levels.^[7] The waist of female Germans between the ages of 14 and 70 grew by 4.1 centimetres thicker between 1994 and 2009.^[8] The belly girth of men between 16 and 70 grew by 4.4 centimetres between 1980 and 2009.^[8]

Italy has surpassed Germany for having the fattest children in Europe.^[9] A survey in 2007 had Germany listed as the country with "the highest proportion of overweight children in Europe."^[9] However, despite dropping in the rankings, the number of truly obese children have doubled in the past decade.^[10] Germany also still has the most overweight adults in Europe.^[11]

Causes

A high consumption of beer and food, fatty foods and a lack of physical activity are to be blamed for obesity in Germany.^[3][7][12] Another issue is the lack of Mediterranean lifestyle and diet.^[7]

Marriage has played a factor.^[6] Sixty-nine percent of married men are considered overweight while only 43% of single men are considered overweight.^[6] Fifty-eight percent of widowed women are consider overweight and 46% of married women are consider overweight while only 25% of single women are considered overweight.^[6] For children, lifestyle choices such as exercise and enough sleep plays a role in weight.^[9]

Effects

The federal government has declared that obesity is a national economic problem in addition to an individual problem.^[13] A study by the German Sport University Cologne revealed that some industries in Germany have a shortage of qualified trainees due to Germany's obesity epidemic.^[14] The industries affected are security and emergency services and skilled manual work sectors.^[14] A clothing-related study revealed that many clothing companies plan to adjust their sizing partly due to Germany's obesity epidemic.^[8] Several studies have showen that obese men tend to have a lower sperm count, fewer rapidly mobile sperm and fewer progressively motile sperm compared to normal-weight men.^[15] Obesity in Germany has created a cholesterol problem.^[7] High cholesterol is known to cause premature death, angina, heart disease and strokes.^[7] Health costs because of obesity has increased and accounts for 20% of health costs.^[16] Several studies have showen that obese men tend to have a lower sperm count, fewer rapidly mobile sperm and fewer progressively motile sperm compared to normal-weight men.^[15] A third of patients suffer from a loss of control when eating and how much out of control depends on how thick the patient is.^[10] Obesity can increased risk for secondary diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and Alzheimer's.^[10] There have been an increase of children with Type 1 diabetes between 1996 and 2011.^[17] Diabetics are at higher risk for complications such as heart attack and stroke.^[17] In Germany, 600,000 people suffered from diabetes near the end of World War II compared to eight million now.^[17] Children who gets diabetes can expect to lose 10 to 15 years off of their lives.^[17] Diabetes also affect the eyes, kidneys and nerves in the legs.^[17]

Programs

The Fit instead of Fat program is run by the German federal government. The objective of the program is to "sharply" reduce obesity rates by the year 2020.^[1][2] The program will try and meet the target by improving the quality of food offered in schools and hospitals along with increasing exercise levels in children.^[1][2]

As of 2007, forty percent of the Bundeswehr's 300,000 conscripts doing military service are considered overweight.^[18][19] A 2007 report declared "excessive bureaucracy" for limiting the time soldiers have to exercise.^[19] As a result, an anti-obesity fitness camp opened in Warendorf, North Rhine-Westphalia.^[18]

A hospital in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia started Projekt Kugelblitz to help obese children and adolescence.^[20] Te aim of the program is to "improve the self-perception, so that the participants develop more sensitive to the context of frustration and compulsive eating, and the selection and preparation of foods and of exercise and well-being".^[20]

An anti-obesity clinic in Wesseling, North Rhine-Westphalia works with a maximum of eight participants for 27 months.^[21] The program is about nutrition counseling, physical exercise and behavior therapy.^[21] Each week they are cared for in highly structured and interlinked courses and motivated.^[21] Up to 80 appointments are intended per year.^[21]

State-by-state

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern go on foot or by bicycle to get where they need too more often than any other state.^[5] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has the most people living a "completely healthy" life at a rate of 19.8% of the people while Saxony-Anhalt have the fewest people living a "completely healthy" life.^[5] Thuringia has the healthiest eating habits while people from North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin have the worst eating habits.^[5]

Ranking	State	Percentage of people living a "completely healthy" life	Source
1	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	19,8	[5]
2	Lower Saxony & Bremen	19,5
3	Saxony	17,2
4	Bavaria	16,5
5	Hesse	14,7
6	Thuringia	13,9
7	Schleswig-Holstein	13,6
8	Berlin	12,3
9	North Rhine-Westphalia	12,0
	Hamburg	12,0
11	Baden-Württemberg	11,3
12	Rhineland-Palatinate & Saarland	9,4
	Brandenburg	9,4
14	Saxony-Anhalt	7,9

Forbes 2007 ranking

Source: Forbes.com^[22]

Ranking	Country	Percentage
38	Jordan	60.5
39	Bahamas	60.4
40	Iceland	60.4
41	Nicaragua	60.4
42	Cuba	60.1
43	Germany	60.1
44	Brunei Darussalam	59.8
45	Slovenia	59.8
46	Peru	59.6
47	Vanuatu	59.6
48	Finland	58.7

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Topping the EU Fat Stats, Germany Plans Anti-Obesity Drive". Deutsche Welle. 20 April 2007. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2449356,00.html. Retrieved 25 June 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Germany launches obesity campaign". BBC. 9 May 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6639227.stm. Retrieved 25 June 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Germans Are Fattest People in Europe, Study Shows". Der Spiegel. 19 April 2007. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,478303,00.html. Retrieved 26 June 2010. 
4. ^ "Deutsche sind die dicksten Europäer" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung. April 18, 2007. http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/uebergewicht-deutsche-sind-die-dicksten-europaeer-1.867211. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Wie gesund lebt Deutschland?". Die Welt. 10 August 2010. http://www.welt.de/die-welt/politik/article8917637/Wie-gesund-lebt-Deutschland.html. Retrieved 14 November 2011. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Germany is getting fatter". The Local. 2 June 2010. http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100602-27589.html. Retrieved 26 June 2010. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "New obesity report says world is fatter, rounder, less productive". Deutsche Welle. February 4, 2011. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14818710,00.html. Retrieved February 4, 2011. 
8. ^ ^{a b c} "Clothing makers mulling bigger sizes to fit tubbier Teutons". The Local. 22 April 2009. http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090422-18797.html. Retrieved 26 June 2010. 
9. ^ ^{a b c} "Italien hat die dicksten Kinder in Europa". Die Welt. 13 November 2011. http://www.welt.de/gesundheit/article13715218/Italien-hat-die-dicksten-Kinder-in-Europa.html. Retrieved 14 November 2011. 
10. ^ ^{a b c} "Die wenigsten Deutschen haben Normalgewicht". Die Welt. 10 June 2011. http://www.welt.de/gesundheit/article13645580/Die-wenigsten-Deutschen-haben-Normalgewicht.html. Retrieved 14 November 2011. 
11. ^ "German children not as fat as Italians". The Local. 14 November 2011. http://www.thelocal.de/society/20111114-38857.html. Retrieved 15 November 2011. 
12. ^ "New Study Shows Extent of Germany's Weight Problem". Deutsche Welle. 30 January 2008. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3096930,00.html. Retrieved 28 June 2010. 
13. ^ "A Germany worth living in". German Government. http://www.bundesregierung.de/nn_6516/Content/EN/Artikel/2006/01/2006-01-23-vii-a-germany-worth-living-in.html. Retrieved July 1, 2010. 
14. ^ ^{a b} "Germany's young adults are too fat to work". The Local. December 16, 2008. http://www.thelocal.de/society/20081216-16179.html. Retrieved June 26, 2010. 
15. ^ ^{a b} "Obesity linked to lower sperm count in young men". Reuters. August 11, 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67A44F20100811. Retrieved September 25, 2010. 
16. ^ "Deutsche sind die dicksten Europäer" (in German). Süddeutsche Zeitung. April 18, 2007. http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/uebergewicht-deutsche-sind-die-dicksten-europaeer-1.867211. Retrieved March 8, 2011. 
17. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Doppelt so viele Typ-1-Diabetiker wie vor 15 Jahren". Die Welt. 14 November 2011. http://www.welt.de/gesundheit/article13716752/Doppelt-so-viele-Typ-1-Diabetiker-wie-vor-15-Jahren.html. Retrieved 14 November 2011. 
18. ^ ^{a b} "German army goes to war against its flabby troops". Telegraph. 09 July 2001. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2449356,00.html. Retrieved 25 June 2010. 
19. ^ ^{a b} "German soldiers too fat to fight". The Local. 04 March 2008. http://www.thelocal.de/national/20080304-10483.html. Retrieved 01 July 2010. 
20. ^ ^{a b} Sting, Jan (22 April 2005). "Projekt „Kugelblitz“ gegen Fettleibigkeit" (in German). Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. http://www.ksta.de/html/artikel/1113407744715.shtml. Retrieved 11 April 2011. 
21. ^ ^{a b c d} "Kölner Spezialklinik hilft Übergewichtigen". Die Welt. 2 August 2011. http://www.welt.de/regionales/koeln/article13522117/Koelner-Spezialklinik-hilft-Uebergewichtigen.html. Retrieved 14 November 2011. 
22. ^ "World's Fattest Countries". Forbes.com. 8 February 2007. http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/07/worlds-fattest-countries-forbeslife-cx_ls_0208worldfat_2.html. Retrieved 25 June 2010.