Obesity in Wolverhampton: Epidemiology, Determinants of Health, and Statistical Data

Obesity in Wolverhampton
Contents
A. The Epidemiology of Obesity...............................................................................................................2
B. Determinants of Health.......................................................................................................................5
Understanding the causes of obesity......................................................................................................5
Obesity risk factors and who is most affected by them...........................................................................5
Diet and food environment.....................................................................................................................5
Physical exercise......................................................................................................................................5
Obesity policy and strategy currently in place.........................................................................................5
Supporting change in behaviour..............................................................................................................6
Interventions based on opportunities.....................................................................................................6
Weight-loss treatments that are tailored to the individual.....................................................................6
Social prescription by the state...............................................................................................................6
Surgical procedures.................................................................................................................................7
Reducing health disparities.....................................................................................................................7
Approaches to community health improvement that are holistic in nature...........................................7
C. Statistical data.....................................................................................................................................8
References.................................................................................................................................................10
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A. The Epidemiology of Obesity
Obesity has been defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 1998) as "a BMI of 30 kg/m2" and
declared an epidemic. According to Finucane et al. (2011), obesity has impacted globally since the
1980s, to the extent that it is now acknowledged as a global pandemic. Obesity increases the risk of
various illnesses and ailments linked with an increased risk of death. Obesity can associate with other
health conditions, which may include “Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular diseases (CVD),
metabolic syndrome (MetS). It also includes chronic kidney disease (CKD), hyperlipidemia, hypertension,
nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), certain cancers, obstructive sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and
depression” (Swinburn et al., 2011, p. 564). Treating these disorders can put additional strain on
healthcare systems: for example, obese people are projected to have a 30% greater medical expenditure
than those with a normal BMI (WHO, 2000). Dealing with the implications of obesity is an expensive
problem for patients since linked overall healthcare expenses undergo an increase every decade (Bray et
al., 2017).
Several different processes can cause obesity. The conventional wisdom holds that the primary reason is
much more surplus energy saved than the energy needed by the body. Surplus energy is deposited in
“fat cells”, resulting in the typical obesity pathophysiology. The abnormal expansion of “fat cells” will
change the nutritional signals that cause obesity (Lee & Shin, 2009). However, Sacks et al.’s (2009) study
has shown that the quality and quantity of nutrients in the diet are more important than their quantity
for controlling weight and preventing illness. Gradually more etiologies or disorders that contribute to
obesity are being uncovered against the backdrop of “a battle between nurture and nature, genetic and
epigenetic, environmental and micro-environmental factors” (Dubern,. 2019, p. 1017). Genetic variables
are discerned to play essential roles in influencing an individual's proclivity to acquire weight (Singh et
al., 2017). Epigenetic research carried out by Lopomo et al. (2016) has offered essential tools for
studying the global obesity epidemic. Studies on the links “between genetics, epigenetics, and
environment in obesity” have been conducted, and “the roles of epigenetic variables” in metabolic
control, obesity risk, and its comorbidities have been investigated (Dubern, 2019, p. 1017).
The National Health Service (NHS) Digital (2020) data shows that in 2019 64% of adults were overweight
in England, among whom 28% were obese and 3% were severely obese. It has been evaluated that after
continual growth in 1990, overweight categories of overall proportion were relatively high. But steady,
at little more than 60% between 2000 and 2019. This general stability conceals some “troubling
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underlying trends, as obesity and morbid obesity” rates have grown “in absolute terms and as a
proportion” of all people who are overweight (Holmes, 2021, p. 4). According to the “City of
Wolverhampton Council’s Public Health Annual Report 2018-2019: Health in the City of
Wolverhampton”, the council plans to “develop a strategic, system-wide response across the city to
ensure children and young people can grow healthily. Work with West Midlands Combined Authority on
progressing the regional focus on obesity prevention, to support us in our Healthy Growth agenda” (p.
12). Moreover, it has been noted in the “City of Wolverhampton Council’s Public Health Annual Report
2020-21 from Covid-19. There is a response, Protect and Relight” that “Being overweight or obese puts
you at greater risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19, as well as from many other life-threatening
diseases” (p. 12). According to the report, “67.4% of adults over 18 in Wolverhampton are classified as
overweight or obese” (p. 12). Further stressing the need, role and importance of green spaces in the
city, the report states: “The benefits of spending time outside are widely recognized, with access to
green spaces, including trees and woodland, proven to improve both our physical and mental wellbeing.
Access to green spaces can encourage physical activity and help reduce obesity, relieve stress,
encourage social interaction and improve quality of life. It brings about cost savings to the NHS as well
as wider economic benefits, through a healthier, more active population” (p. 42).
Furthermore, in the “City of Wolverhampton Council’s report (2021) titled the Vision of Public Health
2030: Longer, healthier lives”, while highlighting the factors that influence overall health, it is
mentioned: “The City of Wolverhampton is similar to most local authorities in that it faces common
public health challenges. These include high obesity levels, smoking, alcohol misuse, rising levels of
sexually transmitted infections, poor mental health and an aging, unhealthy population” (p. 6).
The following diagram from the report (p. 6) depicts that these factors can be divided into four domains
which are Genetics, health service provision, lifestyle choices, and socioeconomic factors.
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Moreover, the report notes that the prevalence of childhood obesity (of children at the age of year 6) in
the city is 26.7% were “upward trend is continuing to increase” and is “higher than England average of
20%”, whereas that among adults is “28.5% which is higher than England average of 24.4%” (p. 7).
Obesity is widely referred to as an epidemic in the literature (WHO, 2000; Roth et al., 2004) because
obesity has grown fast, reaching record-high proportions. An epidemic’s progression is best defined by a
wave pattern, with an initial spike “followed by a plateau and then a fall” (Roth et al., 2004, p. 89S). This
approach has recently been employed on the obesity pandemic (Xu & Lam, 2018). However, it has still
to be adequately researched. The obesity epidemic is anticipated to continue to pose significant dangers
to public health as younger generations are subjected to circumstances that are “even more obesogenic
than those experienced by earlier generations” (Reither et al., 2009, p. 1440).
Since 1980, the incidence of excessive weight gain has more than quadrupled globally, and almost one-
third of the world population is either overweight or obese (Ataey, 2020). Obesity rates have
skyrocketed in men and women of all ages, with older people and women bearing a disproportionately
more enormous burden (WHO, 1998). While this is a global trend, absolute incidence rates vary by
location, country, and ethnicity. Obesity prevalence also varies by socioeconomic class, with higher-
income and certain middle-income nations experiencing slower rates of BMI growth. Obesity was
formerly thought to be a problem faced by high-income nations. However, “the incidence rates of obese
or overweight children in high-income countries such as the United States, Sweden, Denmark, Norway,
France, Australia, and Japan have fallen or plateaued since the early 2000s” (NCD-RisC, 2017, p. 2628).
It should not be forgotten that obese persons are less likely to work professionally because of
comorbidities, and children perform worse in school. Unwanted weight gain is produced by a positive
energy balance, which means that a person consumes more calories than they ought to consume. The
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