Shocking statistics have been revealed about the health and well-being of Hungarians. According to data by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Hungary is the most obese nation in Europe, and based on an article by Magyar Hírlap, Hungarians are so far down the road that dieting or exercising is not even an option anymore, only surgical operations can help.
According to Index, in Hungary, there are about 250 thousand people battling with morbid obesity. Unfortunately, exercise or dieting cannot help reverse their situation at this point; their only hope is surgery. Even though since the 2000s, the number of obese and overweight people stopped increasing, more and more people belong to the morbidly obese category.
According to Magyar Hírlap, someone is considered overweight if their BMI (Body Mass Index) is above 25 and obese if their BMI is above 30. The morbidly obese category starts at a BMI of 40.
The acting president of the Hungarian Society for the Study of Obesity, Eszter Halmy, drew attention to how,
in Europe, people consume 500 calories more every day than 40 years ago.
Add to this the fact that they work over five hours a day at their desks, and 42% of them do no exercise. The data is suddenly not surprising at all.
Halmy emphasised that the interaction between genetics and nature led to obesity becoming a worldwide problem. In her words,
“It is genetics that loads the gun, but nature pulls the trigger.”
When it comes to Hungary, over 2/3s of the population is overweight or obese. The good news is that in the last eight years, the proportion of adults with obesity or excess weight did not increase; however, it is an alarming fact that more and more of them are entering the morbidly obese category.
These new statistics are a major cause for concern, and we must find a way to battle obesity.
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