International day for evaluation of Obesity

I do not know when the International Day for the Evaluation of Obesity is, but the effort to spot likely obesity is timely. Cardiologists want the world to know that we are all getting too fat too fast. The data for this evaluation apparently is published the latest Circulation. The doctors did get to evaluate about 168,000 people from across the world. They used the BMI and waist circumference. We could always argue about their criteria. But I believe that it is true. The world is getting too fat.

I was surprise to note that there was not as much obesity in South and East Asia. I thought that we were equally bad. Apparently not. I suppose traditionally, we will blame the western diet of fast food and the lack of exercise for the high rate of obesity in Canada and South Africa. Please note that this one day study did not include the USA, which I believe will mirror Canada.

I must add my little voice to this worldwide effort to warn us all to eat more veges and fruits, less salt, more white meat and avoid carbonated drink at all cost. It helps to exercise daily or at least three days a week. Brisk walking will be great. Jogging is fine. About 15 kilometers a week in divided portions. To my simple, senior Chinese patients who do not quite know what 15 kilometers is, I just ask them to walk for about half hour or 45 mins, enough to work out a sweat. The consequences of obesity is all to familiar, diabetes, hypertension, CAD, strokes, DVT, increase risk with all surgical procedures, sleep apnea, etc., Basically, to be fat is not glorious. It is asking for trouble. Do I need to go on? And no, whatever the good genetic professors say, eating too much or eating wrongly is not 100% genetically determined. There is a large self indulging element to this. Let us not blame the genes for our eating too much and of the wrong food stuff too.