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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY S. PITMAN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 7th JUNE 2011
Question
Would the Minister provide figures, on a year by year basis, for the levels of –
- obesity related illnesses treated by her Department over the past 20 years;
- those who have developed diabetes as a consequence of poor dietary choices over the past 20 years;
- other illnesses related to poor diets (listing them in order of frequency) treated by her Department over the past twenty years?
Answer
(a/b) At present, it is not possible to accurately identify how much obesity related illness has
been treated locally over the past twenty years. This is partly because this condition is a relatively new phenomenon and the numbers of obese people presenting is likely to have been small in comparison to today. In addition, we know of no national methodology for linking obesity to treated illness within patient records. Anecdotally, clinicians are in no doubt that obesity is contributing significantly to the number of patients they treat, particularly with conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. This is reflected in the work done by the World Health Organisation on the global burden of disease (see Table 1 below).
Increasingly sedentary lifestyles plus diets that are high in salt, fat and sugar are contributory factors to obesity. Research studies have estimated the increased risk of developing a disease as a result of becoming obese. For example, the table below shows that the majority of type 2 diabetes in a population is due to obesity.
Table 1. Conditions Related to Obesity
| Population Attributable Risk Factor (% of obese people) |
Type 2 diabetes | 83% |
Coronary Heart Disease | 33% |
Ischemic Stroke (cerebrovascular disease) | 35% |
Hypertensive Disease | 59% |
Gall bladder disease | 12% |
Colon/Rectal Cancer | 17% |
Source: World Health Organisation (2008) Global Burden of Disease Report
(c) For reasons outlined in answer to part (a/b) of this question, it is not possible to give accurate figures for conditions treated as a result of a poor diet. The table above gives an indication of best estimates at present.