WHO: Main recommendations to combat overweight and obesity

According to data provided by the WHO (World Health Organization) and published On its web portal, the number of people with obesity is almost three times the number in the year 1975 and it is estimated that the majority of the world's population resides in countries where obesity or overweight produces more deaths than weight deficit.

The WHO defines these two conditions as “an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that can be harmful to health ”, being the BMI (body mass index) the indicator that allows to reveal if a person is in the ranges of overweight or obesity, establishing a relationship between weight and height.

In the same way, they affirm that the main cause of overweight is the imbalance between the amount of calories that are ingested and the amount of calories that are spent during the day , this driven by the consumption of foods with a large caloric load, in addition to the decrease in physical activity in people's habits, therefore , it could be prevented.

How can you prevent obesity and being overweight?

In most cases, both health problems can be preventable, although there are different factors that can influence, especially in different communities, there are certain actions that can be taken individually to contribute to the prevention of both overweight and obesity.

Within the recommendations made by the World Health Organization , there are three fundamental habits.

• Reduce the consumption of foods that provide a lot of energy, that is, of foods rich in sugars and fats.
• Increase the intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts and whole grains.
• Perform at least 1 hour of physical activity if you are young and at least 150 minutes per week if you are an adult.

To follow these recommendations effectively, it will always be advisable to consult with specialists from different areas, be they doctors, nutritionists and sports trainers, in order to comply with these three recommendations in an appropriate way.

Physical exercise

Similarly, the WHO affirms that in addition to the measures taken individually, there is also a social responsibility that is essential to reduce the statistics of overweight and obesity, where the pharmaceutical industry plays a fundamental role so that people can have healthy diets.

Among the recommendations that said organization makes to the food industry are the following:

• Reduce the amount of sugar, fat and salt in processed foods.
• Ensure that there are nutritious and healthy alternatives available to all, which must be affordable.
• Limit the sale of foods with large amounts of fat, sugar and salt, especially those foods for children and adolescents.
• Support periodic physical activity at work sites.

Why follow these recommendations?

To encourage people to adopt these recommendations and make changes of habits in your life daily, it is important that the consequences of being overweight and obesity are known.

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the most common problems in people with a weight above normal levels, being heart disease and strokes .

Diabetes is another of the diseases that can appear as a result of weight gain and poor eating habits, disorders of the locomotor system can also appear, producing diseases such as osteoarthritis.

While, on the other hand, being overweight is also related to a significant increase in the risk of suffering from different types of cancer, especially colon, liver, kidney, and gallbladder cancer biliary, prostate, breast, ovarian and endometrial. All this within a wide range of other diseases.