A study by researchers from the University of Sweden involving over 620,000 adults from 1963 to 2015 showed that people who developed obesity between the ages of 17 and 29 were associate with higher mortality risk. This cohort had a 70 percent higher risk of death compared with those who did not develop obesity by age 60.

This was especially true for men who had substantially higher risks of liver, pancreatic, kidney, colon and other cancers. Women in this group did not have the same cancer risks regardless of when they gained weight.

The risks were not limited to obesity. Gaining 6.5 kg. between 17 and 30 were associated with about 17 percent higher risk of premature death. More weight gain was associated with higher risk.

The Philippine situation is not that encouraging either. Nearly 4 in 10 Filipino adults (39.8 percent) are now classified as overweight or obese. It is higher among women (45.4 percent) compared to men (35.2 percent). This is a stark contrast to the early 1990s when adult obesity was only 10 percent.

Even children are not spared. Approximately 3.7 percent of children under age five are overweight or obese. Adolescents are worse. Obesity in boys is 14.8 percent while girls have an obesity rate of 11.3 percent. This problem is more prevalent in urban and peri-urban areas.

This bears out my observations on the ground. Even health professionals are not spared. In the hospitals I work in, I see a lot of staff, medical, nursing, and even support staff who are overweight/obese. It does not make for a good example for patients who walk in and see that the people who will treat them are as unhealthy as they are (Physician, heal thyself, June 3, 2024).

Mortality statistics cite obesity and obesity-associated diseases as factors in over half the top ten leading causes of death by the Philippine Statistics Authority. Likewise, the WHO notes that obesity is a major driver of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD) like cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Major factors cited are consumption of low-nutrient energy-dense foods (think rice and packaged noodles), excessive intake of added sugar (sugared drinks) and fats and inadequate intake of micronutrients. Just looking at the typical Filipino diet with rice intake in all three daily meals and you get the idea.

These diet faux-pas are compounded by decreased physical activity among all ages due to a sedentary lifestyle (welcome to the age of the Internet), lack of exercise, stress (triggering over-eating) and the proliferation of all-you-can-eat buffets and unlimited rice offerings.

In the old days, people were more physically active and work was mainly manual. Now, we eschew manual labor as too low status. Currently, the so-called professionals are just sitting at their desks for hours and hours, rising only to partake of the above-mentioned high caloric (junk) foods and drinks, the perfect recipe for obesity.

But there is no class distinction in obesity. The lower socio-economic classes can’t afford proper nutrition and resort to filling their stomachs with rice and other high caloric but nutritionally low foods, while the elite classes gorge themselves on buffets and eat like there is no tomorrow. Indeed, there may be no tomorrow for them as they fall ill to heart attacks and strokes.

There are severe implications for the country. The rise in these lifestyle diseases is putting a heavy strain on our health system. Our hospitals are overflowing with patients suffering from heart attacks, strokes, complications of diabetes mellitus and cancers, some of which are associated with obesity. We can hardly treat the numerous patients who line up in the early morning hours just to be seen by doctors, and if the number of patients increase due to the effect of obesity, our health system will collapse. Doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff will experience burn-out and either quit or migrate elsewhere where working is not too stressful.

It is also impacting national productivity when people have to take time off from work to seek medical treatment due to the effects of obesity.

Let’s start healing ourselves by striving to have healthy weight. No matter how the government acts in reducing obesity in the country, it is up to us to individually recognize that only we can help ourselves in this regard. Those who have hereditary diseases are more severely affected by the effects of obesity, which may also have a hereditary basis. We’ve seen whole families who are obese or severely overweight from the fathers to children and grandchildren.

Don’t wait until you are suffering from the ill effects of obesity. In the Philippines, getting sick is not an option. A prolonged hospital stay can drive you to the poorhouse.

Eat sensibly. Exercise more. Climb the stairs. Walk to nearby destinations. Live longer and healthier. Life is beautiful, only if you can live healthy.