Europe confronts weighty problem
After long mocking 'tubby' Americans, half overweight or obese
By CARL HONOR
Copyright 2004 Houston ChronicleForeign Service
LONDON -- It is lunch time in Knightsbridge, one of London's most affluent neighborhoods, and few of the customers piling into the local McDonald's are bothering to count calories.
Janet Hayward, a 22-year-old bank teller, maneuvers to the counter and casts an eye at the menu overhead. Ignoring the salad and fruit options, she orders a Quarter Pounder with cheese, large fries and a "Share Size" Coke.
"I know it's not the healthiest meal in the world, but I can't resist," she says with a shrug. "That's probably why I've put on half a stone (7 pounds) since the summer."
Hayward is not alone. After years of mocking Americans for being too fat, Europe is waking up to a serious weight problem of its own. According to the London-based International Obesity Task Force, about half of Europeans are now either overweight or obese, compared with nearly two-thirds of Americans. In Britain, obesity rates have tripled since 1980.
Even in the Mediterranean sun belt, where the traditional diet is based on healthy staples such as olive oil and fresh produce, waistlines are expanding. The Obesity Task Force estimates that almost 70 percent of Greek adults are now overweight.
European children are also piling on the pounds. According to the task force, nearly 20 percent of the continent's youngsters are too fat. A recent government report by Britain's National Health Service found that one in five 12-year-olds in Scotland is obese.
Why are Europeans losing the battle of the bulge? The short answer, many experts say, is that they are living more like Americans: getting too little exercise and eating too much calorie-rich convenience food.
"For a long time, we in Europe have laughed about America being the home of the fat, but now, when we look in the mirror, the joke is on us," says London-based nutritionist Helena Lobig. "If we keep going down the same path, we will end up just as tubby as the Americans."
Europe already has good reason to worry about its waistline. According to the World Health Organization, obesity kills 320,000 people here every year and has triggered a surge in Type II diabetes among children. Illnesses linked to excessive weight cost the continent billions of dollars in lost productivity and health care.
Alarmed by the looming threat to their collective health, Europeans have started fighting back, waging what one British newspaper recently called "The War On Fat."
Across the continent, diet manuals are selling briskly and weight loss is the subject of endless documentaries, chat shows, newspaper articles and even reality TV programs. In a recent series, some of Britain's more rotund celebrities attended a fat-busting clinic where they sweated their way through light exercise routines.
Making ordinary people more active is becoming a priority across Europe. Star athletes have joined health experts and teachers to campaign for more sports in schools. From London to Berlin to Rome, cities are pedestrianizing streets and cutting back on traffic in a bid to encourage walking and cycling. Every October, European youngsters have "Walk to School Day."
Based in Italy, the Slow Food movement is one of many groups campaigning against the fast-food culture in Europe. Rather than wolfing down enormous quantities of processed food, the group's 70,000 members advocate taking time to savor moderately sized meals made from healthy ingredients. "If you eat sensibly, you can enjoy a lot of pleasure and not become fat," says Valter Musso, a spokesman for Slow Food.
To put that principle into practice, cooperatives selling affordable fresh produce, as well as tips on how to cook it, are springing up in some of Europe's poorer neighborhoods. Schools are revamping their cafeteria menus to offer less fattening food.
But despite the well-publicized drawbacks of being overweight and the continental push to help people slim down, many Europeans seem resigned to go on expanding.
At the Knightsbridge McDonald's, there seems to be little appetite for cutting calories. Hayward, who stands about 5 feet 6 inches and says she weighs 215 pounds, leaves the restaurant with a large chocolate doughnut after finishing her lunch.
"I know I need to lose weight, but it's such an effort," she says.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/health/2357926
Linear Mode
