Food Price Forum is moderated by the FAO Regional Office for Asia, in collaboration with the Policy Assistance Support Service

 

Dear Gunther,

 

Please see below my comment that I made to the AGN list after seeing this article.

 

Dear colleagues,

 

Interesting data. This shows that Micronesia and Tonga are at the top of the league table, followed closely by the United States where the average adult weighs 180.62 pounds (81.93 kg). US makes up only five per cent of the world's population, it accounts for almost a third of the world’s weight whereas Asia has 61 per cent of the world’s people but only 13 per cent of the world’s weight. I entered my own weight (around 85kg) and I am told that I am roughly the same weight as the average adult in Tonga.

 

However what this does not tell me and others who may use this, is that the significance of my weight depends largely on my height. My height is around 179cm and therefore my BMI is (85kg/1.79cmx1.79cm=26.5). According to the standards, as this is a little over a BMI of 25 I may be considered a little overweight. That is OK with me, as it not accompanied by any significant increase in the risk of ill health. However, despite WHO’s insistence that I am therefore ‘pre-obese’, I beg to differ. My weight has fluctuated between 80 and 85 for perhaps twenty years and so their projection is yet to become reality.

 

This calculation highlights what is seriously lacking here, the consideration of linear growth i.e. of height. This makes any assessment based on weight alone meaningless.

 

Brian

 

 

 

From: FAO-Food-Price-Forum-Pacific-Islands
Sent: 27 June 2012 10:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: Micronesia and Tonga are at the top of the league table ... The world's fattest countries: how do you compare?

 

Food Price Forum is moderated by the FAO Regional Office for Asia, in collaboration with the Policy Assistance Support Service

 

Would the body-mass index not be better to compare with? It might not change the sequence, but maybe give a more precise information.

 

Gunther Feiler

 

From: FAO-Food-Price-Forum-Pacific-Islands
Sent: 22 June 2012 11:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Micronesia and Tonga are at the top of the league table ... The world's fattest countries: how do you compare?

 

Food Price Forum is moderated by the FAO Regional Office for Asia, in collaboration with the Policy Assistance Support Service

 

Comments anyone?  There is an interesting graph that accompanies this article that can be seen at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9345086/The-worlds-fattest-countries-how-do-you-compare.html

 

Michael

=====================================================

 

The world's fattest countries: how do you compare?

The average weight of an adult human is 144 pounds (65 kg) according to a league table of the world's 'fattest' nations from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Find out how you compare to other adults using our interactive graphic.

By Conrad Quilty-Harper, graphic by David Kinross and Dan Palmer

8:00AM BST 21 Jun 2012

The pacific island nations of Micronesia and Tonga are at the top of the league table, followed closely by the United States where the average adult weighs 180.62 pounds (81.93 kg).

The United Kingdom is the tenth fattest country in the world, where an average adult weighs 167.1 pounds (75.8 kg).

The study, published in the journal BMC Public Health and launched on Monday at the United Nations conference Rio+20, highlights the problem of obesity in relation to the environment.

Excess consumption shortens people's lives and accelerates the destruction of the environment, and is concentrated in richer countries.

While the average body mass globally was 62 kg, North Americans weigh in at 81.9 kg.

And while the US makes up only five per cent of the world's population, it accounts for almost a third of the world’s weight due to obesity.

In comparison, Asia has 61 per cent of the world’s people but only 13 per cent of the world’s weight.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/9345086/The-worlds-fattest-countries-how-do-you-compare.html

 



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