Obesity has continued to increase in recent years in France and now affects nearly one in six adults, while overweight is declining slightly, reaching 30% of the population, shows a new study which also assesses for the first time the childhood obesity. Body mass is measured from the body mass index (BMI), obtained by dividing the weight (kg) by the square of the height (m2).
Below 18.5 points, it indicates underweight, between 18.5 and 25, normal build, between 25 and 30 overweight, over 30 obesity, and over 40 massive obesity. In 2020, 17% of adults were obese, or nearly 8.6 million people, against 15% in 2012 and 10.1% in 2002, shows this survey presented on Wednesday by the League Against Obesity. On the other hand, the proportion of overweight people fell by two points compared to 2012, to 30.3%. It thus returns to its 2000 level.
Women more affected than men
In total, “nearly one in two French people are overweight and / or obese”, underlines the League, a federation created in 2014 to “change the view on obesity and improve the medical care of this disease “.
“If women are always more affected than men”, with respectively 17.4% and 16.7% obese, “it is among the latter that the increases are strongest, especially in massive obesity “,” Multiplied by three in eight years, “said the survey. Obesity has multiple causes, including diet, physical inactivity and certain genetic predispositions. It is considered a major public health problem because it is “a risk factor for chronic pathologies (diabetes, hypertension, etc.) and has major psychological and social consequences (low self-esteem, depression, isolation, etc.)” , underlines the Ministry of Health.
A correlation with the social environment
According to the survey, 36% of obese people questioned are treated for hypertension, 20% for diabetes and 18% for sleep apnea, against 20%, 9% and 7% respectively among all those questioned. “It can be prevented, especially in its severe forms, and must be taken care of in a graduated way and in a multidisciplinary approach”, adds the ministry which recalls that “the use of surgery is only appropriate in very specific cases. “.
The ObEpi survey confirms that obesity is “correlated with social environment”: it is “twice as high among working-class categories (employees and workers) than among executives (18% against 9.9%). »Regional disparities also remain strong, the North and East being more affected: 22.1% in Hauts-de-France, followed by Grand-Est (20.2%) and Normandy (19.8% ). In addition, obesity “gradually increases with age” but “over the last few years, it is among the youngest French people” that it has increased the most, from 5.4% in 2012 to 9, 2% in 2020 among 18-24 year olds.