Prevent type 2 diabetes by preventing obesity

In 2011 nearly 73,000 adults in Northern Ireland are registered as having diabetes. Many cases of diabetes are preventable and are the result of obesity. With this in mind, on World Diabetes Day, 14 November 2011, the Public Health Agency is encouraging everyone across Northern Ireland to be aware of how Type 2 diabetes can be prevented, the dangers it can cause to your health and what the signs and symptoms of diabetes are to ensure early diagnosis.The links between type 2 diabetes and obesity are firmly established. Without the intervention of a healthy diet and appropriate exercise, obesity may develop into diabetes over a relatively short period of time. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), worldwide 80 per cent of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese at the time of diagnosis.If you are overweight, or obese the key step to preventing or delaying the onset of Type 2 diabetes is to lose a small amount of weight by making healthy food choices and being physically active 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.Diabetes, if left untreated can cause serious long term health complications such as heart disease, kidney damage, eye problems, which can affect vision, and foot problems leading to amputation.Dr Brid Farrell, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, PHA, said: "The increase of diabetes occurring in the population can be explained by rising levels of obesity, people living longer and improved detection and diagnosis of diabetes in primary care."Having a family history of Type 2 diabetes increases your chances of developing diabetes. Take the first step today toward lowering your risk for Type 2 diabetes and improving your health and the health of future generations." The symptoms of diabetes can include increased thirst, passing urine more, frequently (bedwetting in children), extreme tiredness, slow healing infections, blurred vision and significant or unexplained weight loss. Symptoms of diabetes can develop quickly over days or weeks, and sometimes with Type 2 diabetes, a person may have no symptoms. Early diagnosis is important. If you think you have diabetes speak to your GP or pharmacist.Dr Farrell continued: "Diabetes is a lifelong condition, but complications can be prevented or delayed by controlling your blood sugar, and treating high blood pressure and high cholesterol. If you have diabetes, a healthy diet and regular exercise is very important."Health Minister Edwin Poots said:"Diabetes is a serious condition, which affects many thousands of people across Northern Ireland. While not all diabetes is preventable, we all have a responsibility to look after our own health. "By making healthier lifestyle choices such as eating a healthy, well-balanced diet and taking regular exercise, we can reduce our risk of developing potentially life threatening conditions such as type 2 diabetes. I would urge everyone to take every possible step to improve their health and avoid developing preventable illnesses

Obesity and the environment briefing: Increasing physical activity and active travel

This briefing has been written in conjunction with the Local Government Association (LGA). It is aimed at those who work in or represent local authorities. It addresses the issue of taking action to create environments where people are more likely to walk or cycle for short journeys. It summarises the importance of action on obesity and a specific focus on active travel, and outlines the regulatory and policy approaches that can be taken.

Obesity and the environment: regulating the growth of fast food outlets

A ‘healthy people, healthy places’ briefing. This briefing summarises the importance of action on obesity and a specific focus on fast food takeaways, and outlines the regulatory and other approaches that can be taken at local level. Th briefing paper addresses the opportunities to limit the number of fast food takeaways (especially near schools) and ways in which fast food offers can be made healthier.

Social Care and Obesity: A discussion paper

The number of obese people in England has been rising steadily for the best part of 20 years. Today one in four adults are obese, according to the Health Survey for England, compared to 15 per cent in 1993. Obesity is associated with a range of health problems including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. The resulting NHS costs attributable to overweight and obesity are projected to reach £9.7 billion by 2050 [1], with wider costs to society estimated to reach £49.9 billion per year. These factors combine to make the prevention of obesity a major public health challenge. This discussion paper considers the impact that obesity has on social care and the challenges facing social care now and in the future.

Obesity and disability - children and young people

This paper examines the evidence linking obesity and disability in children and young people. It looks at a range of impairments or health conditions associated with disability and explores the main obesity-related chronic health conditions that can develop during childhood and adolescence. It also highlights: inequalities experienced by children and young people in relation to obesity and disability implications for policy, practice and research survey data on obesity and limiting long-term illness or disability

Public Health England Obesity

The Public Health England Obesity website provides a single point of contact for wide-ranging authoritative information on data, evaluation, evidence and research related to weight status and its determinants. They work closely with a wide range of organisations and provide support to policy makers and practitioners involved in obesity and related issues.

Troubles sexuels masculins et obésité [Male sexual dysfunction and obesity].

Obesity concerns more than 200 million people in the world, with an increasing prevalence in western countries. It is closely related to multiple medical conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension. It was recently shown that testosterone deficiency syndrome and erectile dysfunction (ED) are also linked to male obesity. In this group of patients, ED may be due to defects in corpus cavernosum relaxation, endocrine modifications and nerve signal alterations. Weight loss and increased physical activities can improve erectile function in 30% of obese patients. Additional medical treatments of ED enhance erectile function in more than 80% of patients. Self image improvement associated with appropriate erectile dysfunction medical treatment allow better sexual life and potentially increased motivation for weight loss.

Attitudes of the public towards policies to address obesity

Key points Obesity and the related health burden is a growing problem in Ireland. Understanding public attitudes to policy interventions is important, as it provides a key indicator of the potential effectiveness of interventions and the readiness of the general public for policy implementation. The present research aimed to determine public acceptance of a range of policies to address obesity in Ireland. To this end, a survey of attitudes towards obesity-oriented policies among a nationally representative sample of the population of Irish adults was conducted. Strikingly high levels of public support were evident for a wide range of obesity-oriented interventions. The findings support prior research on behaviour change in key policy areas such as diet and smoking which demonstrates that support for interventions tends to decrease as the intrusiveness of interventions increases. Consistent with previous research, socio-demographic factors only explain a small portion (2 - 6%) of the variance in policy support. Overall, the findings indicate substantial public readiness for addressing obesity in Ireland, particularly through child-focused policies, informational measures, subsidies for healthy foods and co-operation between government and the food industry. - See more at: http://www.safefood.eu/Publications/Research-reports/Attitudes-of-the-public-towards-policies-to-addres

Obesity

The aim of this intervention is to help people lose weight on a long term basis

MoreLife Adult Clinical Obesity Service (ACOS)

The aim of this intervention is to educate, inform and empower patients to safely lose and manage their weight. It strives for Patients to lose an agreed amount of weight, with the help and support of the MoreLife team.

MoreLife Specialist Obesity Service (ASOS)

The aims of this intervention are: - To prevent or defer patients from requiring surgical interventions. - To ready patients for surgical procedures (indirectly related to weight status), such as orthapaedic ops etc. - To educate, inform and empower patients to safely lose and manage their weight - To improve the patient's clinical risk and quality of life.

Elevated energy expenditure and reduced energy intake in obese prepubertal children: paradox of poor dietary reliability in obesity?

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of two common methods used to assess energy intake. A 3-day weighed dietary record and a dietary history were collected and compared with the total daily energy expenditure (TEE) assessed by the heart rate method in a group of 12 obese and 12 nonobese prepubertal children (mean age 9.3 +/- 1.1 years vs 9.3 +/- 0.4 years). The TEE value was higher in obese than in nonobese children (9.89 +/- 1.08 vs 8.13 +/- 1.39 MJ/day; p < 0.01). Energy intake assessed by the dietary record was significantly lower than TEE in the obese children (7.06 +/- 0.98 MJ/day; p < 0.001) but comparable to TEE in the nonobese children (8.03 +/- 0.99 MJ/day; p = not significant). Energy intake assessed by diet history was lower than TEE in the obese children (8.37 +/- 1.35 MJ/day, p < 0.05) but close to TEE in the nonobese children (8.64 +/- 1.54 MJ/day, p = not significant). These results suggest that obese children underreport food intake and that the dietary record and the diet history are not valid means of assessing energy intake in obese prepubertal children.

Is lean body mass decreased after obesity treatment by adjustable gastric banding?

BACKGROUND: There is concern that surgically-induced weight loss in obese subjects is associated with a disproportionate decrease in lean body mass (LBM) and in skeletal muscle mass (SMM), a major constituent of LBM. To address this issue, 1) we measured total and regional body composition following gastric banding in a group of obese subjects, and 2) we compared these data to those of a non-surgical control group of similar age and body size. METHODS: Body composition was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) before and after laparoscopic adjustable silicone gastric banding (LAGB) in 32 women (after 1 year: age 43.7+/-8.4 years, BMI 36.4+/-5.9 kg/m2, mean+/-SD), and in 117 control women (age 44.5+/-7.5 years; BMI 36.7+/-5.5 kg/m2) referred for non-surgical weight management, prior to weight loss. SMM was estimated using a published equation based on LBM of the extremities (appendicular LBM). RESULTS: 1 year after LAGB, body weight loss (-23.7+/-11.6 kg, P<10(-6)) was mainly due to decreased fat mass (-21.2+/-11.2 kg, P<10(-6)), and total LBM was modestly, although significantly, decreased (-2.1+/-4.2 kg, P=0.01). Appendicular LBM (-0.7+/-2.7 kg) and total SMM (-0.9+/-3.0 kg) were not significantly modified. None of the body composition variables was significantly decreased in weight-reduced subjects compared to the control group, especially appendicular LBM and total SMM. CONCLUSIONS: Results provide no evidence for a decrease in appendicular LBM and total SMM with weight loss following LAGB. Follow-up of these obese patients revealed a very favorable pattern of change in total and regional body composition, with preservation of muscle mass.

Growing up in Ireland. Key findings: 13-year-olds. No. 2. Physical activity and obesity among 13-year-olds.

This Key Finding reports on data from the second wave of interviews with Growing Up in Ireland's Child Cohort. The 8,568 children and their families were first interviewed when the children were 9 years old, and then at age 13 years, when 7,400 were reinterviewed between August 2011 and February 2012.The findings show that boys and young people from more socially advantaged backgrounds were more likely to exercise, and that 13-year-olds who took more exercise (whether hard or light exercise) were less likely to be overweight or obese.While most of the young people in Growing Up in Ireland maintained a healthy weight over time, one in four was either overweight or obese, a finding similar to that at 9 years. Girls were also more likely to be classified as overweight or obese than boys. The majority of 13-year-olds were quite positive about their physical appearance, although a quarter rated themselves as below average in this respect, and girls tended to be less positive about their body image than boys. Dieting behaviours had also become evident at 13.To understand more fully the origins and course of overweight and obesity, the descriptive data in this Key Finding can be used in more complex analyses drawing on the rich data available on the child, family and other important contextual variables.This resource was contributed by the National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Obesity in an ageing society implications for health, physical function and health service utilisation.

Key Findings • Based on body mass index (BMI) measurements, 36% of Irish over 50s are obese and a further 43% are overweight. • Based on waist circumference measurements, 52% of Irish over 50s are ‘centrally obese’, i.e., with a ‘substantially increased’ waist circumference, while a further 25% have an ‘increased’ waist circumference. • Using BMI as an indicator of obesity, a higher proportion of men (38%) are obese than women (33%); however, using waist circumference as an indicator of obesity, a higher proportion of women (56%) have a ‘substantially increased’ waist circumference than men (48%). • The prevalence of obesity in Irish men over 50 is comparable with US men over 50 (while English rates are much lower).     .This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.