BMJ 1995;311:1568 (9 December)

Letters

Obesity in Britain

Lifestyle data do not support sloth hypothesis

EDITOR,--The question of whether obesity in Britain is due to gluttony or sloth may be even more obscure than Andrew M Prentice and Susan A Jebb allow.1 A particular concern is the apparent doubling of adult obesity (body mass index >30) during 1980-91, from a prevalence of 6% to 13% in men and from 8% to 15% in women. A puzzling feature of these statistics, however, is the absence of a corresponding increase in the prevalence of overweight (body mass index >25-30).2 This increased from 33% to 38% in men during the period and from 24% to 26% in women. Is there something peculiar in obesity and obese people as defined?

With regard to aetiology, the authors suggest that "modern inactive lifestyles . . . possibly represent the dominant factor." The main concern here is not the long established low levels of physical . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Obesity in Britain: gluttony or sloth?
Andrew M Prentice and Susan A Jebb
BMJ 1995 311: 437-439. [Extract] [Full Text]

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