Obesity 'could bankrupt' NHS

Obesity 'could bankrupt' NHS a report has claimed.

The report, published in the British Medical Journal, said that obesity causes diseases like diabetes, liver disease, back pain and high blood pressure.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Professor Naveed Sattar said: "Once your body mass index goes above 25, which is effectively being overweight, and not even at the level of obesity, risks do increase."We need to start thinking in real terms what will really generally work and what generally is the cause."

Well I certainly agree that they "need to start thinking in real terms what will really generally work and what generally is the cause" - but sadly I know that they won't...)o: - They will carry on plugging the same harmful message they have plugged for decades, namely eat less and exercise more. They carry on, regardless of the clear fact that this advice DOES NOT WORK and is counter-productive. - This is because obesity is NOT caused by over-eating and inactivity. It is caused by fluid retention in vulnerable groups of people. It can be reduced rapidly by eating less salt/sodium and eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. - It is important NOT to restrict calories.

I quote again from my webpage http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html :

"It is over 50 years since steroids were first prescribed and it is beyond belief that most doctors are still unaware in practice of their potential for causing sodium and water retention and morbid obesity and the many other serious health problems attendant on these...

Calorie counting and advice about increasing exercise and reducing fat and carbohydrate intake to reduce obesity are ineffective, counter-productive and often damaging. - See the article in the British Medical Journal of November 2003 BMJ article for actual research on what happens when this advice is followed! - Over 800 obese adults were put on energy deficit diets, given diet sheets and plenty of instruction and help from trained staff, and apparently, visited fortnightly for a year, at the end of which they had GAINED weight! This mirrors the real experience of obese people, viz. - dieting makes you fat.

It is commonly accepted now, except by the 'experts', that less than 5% of dieters actually lose weight, and most gain weight as a result of dieting. - Even the ones who manage to lose weight do not usually improve their health. - See Guardian article for a report in The Guardian of Monday, June 27th 2005. It is about a huge research study of nearly 3000 people over a period of 18 years. The study found that overweight people who diet to reach a healthier weight are more likely to die young than those who remain fat. It also found that dieting causes physiological damage that in the long term can outweigh the benefits of the weight loss.

Contributing to the increase in obesity we have the widespread prescribing of steroids and HRT and other drugs which cause weight gain, and the failure of doctors to adhere to the protocols connected with the prescribing and monitoring of steroids. But pre-eminent, in my opinion, is the catastrophically damaging calorie-reduction advice that continues to be given despite such a wealth of evidence that it is bad advice.

Another possible factor is the increase in the amount of oestrogen in the water table."