Slim down for a healthier economy

As well as being in the grip of a credit crunch, a jobs crisis and facing the prospect of an 18-month recession, Britain also has an obesity epidemic on its hands. A new 'fat map' has emerged documenting the heaviest places in the United Kingdom as the nation struggles to beat the battle of the bulge.

The research by medical data analysts Dr Foster Intelligence found the highest levels of obesity in the steel belt areas of Wales and the former mining areas of Yorkshire and the North East – regions blighted by poverty since their communities were destroyed by the closure of big industry employers in the 1980s. And shame on Scotland's Shetland Islands for having an obesity level of 15.54 per cent.

What is interesting about the fat map is that unlike many parts of the world, such as South East Asia and Africa, where the poor are emaciated from starvation, it's Britain's more poverty stricken areas that are the fattest. It appears the worse their economic situation, the more they eat to blot out their misery.

The reverse is true in the UAE where the upper echelons of society fall victim to the alleged fat gene. With more than 60 per cent of UAE nationals overweight, this nation also needs to examine its lifestyle if it wants to beat the obesity issue. And beating it is crucial. As we all know you can't just be fat and happy, your size means you have to contend with higher risks of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and ultimately an earlier death.

But obesity is more than just a health problem, it is the potential plague of the modern world. With globalisation and the easy availability of junk food high in fat and low in nutrition in every city around the world, something that was once considered a disease of high income countries is now affecting low- and middle income nations particularly in the urban areas. Being chronically overweight not only puts a strain on an individual's wellbeing, but also on the economy that has to fund the problem. Shamefully, Britain has Europe's highest obesity rate with two thirds of adults and one third of children overweight, and with the condition costing the economy £7 billion (Dh47bn) a year in treatment, loss of earnings and lower productivity, this figure could rise to £60bn by 2050.

The statistics are shocking but the reality of actually seeing young mothers and fathers huffing and puffing as they try and chase after their children is worse. And what's more criminal than that is when they are huffing and puffing after equally overweight children.

Britain and the UAE are not the worst offenders by far and while governments need to think long and hard about how to solve this global epidemic, ultimately it's up to the individual to transform their couch-potato lifestyle and find a healthier way to live. As they heave their enormous bulk along, surely they must realise they've taken it a burger or two too far.

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