Understanding Obesity

What we eat is central to health throughout life; however the huge rise in the number of obese people worldwide is proving to be a major challenge to our health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO, 1998) has described the rapid rise of obesity as a ‘global epidemic’.

It is the fastest growing non-communicable disease worldwide, a huge threat to public health.

National Child Measurement Programme

The NCMP is part of a national effort to improve children's health and well-being throughout England and NHS Nottinghamshire County is required to implement the programme on behalf of the Department of Health.

Obesity Care Pathways

The obesity care pathways for adults, and children/young people have been developed in partnership with local partners and service providers

The pathways fully accord with the latest evidence based practice published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE 2006).

Nutrition and Physical Activity

The Government recommends that all healthy individuals over the age of 5 years eat a healthy balanced diet that is rich in fruit, vegetables and starchy foods.

The Health Survey for England (2006) suggests that the current levels of fruit and vegetables are shown in the table below:

Adults	3.8 portions per day
Men	3.6 portions per day
Women	3.9 portions per day
Children (5-15)	3.3 portions per day

Health Survey for England

Across Nottinghamshire synthetic estimates of fruit and vegetables consumption show on average 1 in 4 people over the age of 16 consume 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables.

Workplace Health

The workplace can have an impact on a person’s ability to maintain a healthy weight both directly, by providing healthy eating choices and opportunities for physical activity, and indirectly through the overall culture of the organisation.

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Understanding Obesity