Obesity in Germany has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent years. A 2007 study shows Germany has the highest number of overweight people in Europe.[1][2] However, the United Kingdom, Greece and certain countries in Eastern Europe have a higher rate of "truly obese" people.[3] In 2007, Forbes.com ranks Germany as the 43rd fattest country in the World with a rate at 60.1%. The German obesity rate is considered at the same level as with the American obesity rate.[4] Only 14% live a "completely healthy" life.[5]
In Germany, 60% of men and 43% of women are considered overweight while in France, 38.5% of men and 26% of women are considered overweight.[6] Germans are considered thinner than people in the United Kingdom.[6] The obesity level in Germany is in the middle compared to other European countries.[7] Out of 44 countries, Germany is ranked 39th for women and 42nd for men for cholesterol levels.[7] The waist of female Germans between the ages of 14 and 70 grew by 4.1 centimetres thicker between 1994 and 2009.[8] The belly girth of men between 16 and 70 grew by 4.4 centimetres between 1980 and 2009.[8]
Italy has surpassed Germany for having the fattest children in Europe.[9] A survey in 2007 had Germany listed as the country with "the highest proportion of overweight children in Europe."[9] However, despite dropping in the rankings, the number of truly obese children have doubled in the past decade.[10] Germany also still has the most overweight adults in Europe.[11]
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A high consumption of beer and food, fatty foods and a lack of physical activity are to be blamed for obesity in Germany.[3][7][12] Another issue is the lack of Mediterranean lifestyle and diet.[7]
Marriage has played a factor.[6] Sixty-nine percent of married men are considered overweight while only 43% of single men are considered overweight.[6] Fifty-eight percent of widowed women are consider overweight and 46% of married women are consider overweight while only 25% of single women are considered overweight.[6] For children, lifestyle choices such as exercise and enough sleep plays a role in weight.[9]
The federal government has declared that obesity is a national economic problem in addition to an individual problem.[13] A study by the German Sport University Cologne revealed that some industries in Germany have a shortage of qualified trainees due to Germany's obesity epidemic.[14] The industries affected are security and emergency services and skilled manual work sectors.[14] A clothing-related study revealed that many clothing companies plan to adjust their sizing partly due to Germany's obesity epidemic.[8] Several studies have showen that obese men tend to have a lower sperm count, fewer rapidly mobile sperm and fewer progressively motile sperm compared to normal-weight men.[15] Obesity in Germany has created a cholesterol problem.[7] High cholesterol is known to cause premature death, angina, heart disease and strokes.[7] Health costs because of obesity has increased and accounts for 20% of health costs.[16] Several studies have showen that obese men tend to have a lower sperm count, fewer rapidly mobile sperm and fewer progressively motile sperm compared to normal-weight men.[15] A third of patients suffer from a loss of control when eating and how much out of control depends on how thick the patient is.[10] Obesity can increased risk for secondary diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and Alzheimer's.[10] There have been an increase of children with Type 1 diabetes between 1996 and 2011.[17] Diabetics are at higher risk for complications such as heart attack and stroke.[17] In Germany, 600,000 people suffered from diabetes near the end of World War II compared to eight million now.[17] Children who gets diabetes can expect to lose 10 to 15 years off of their lives.[17] Diabetes also affect the eyes, kidneys and nerves in the legs.[17]
The Fit instead of Fat program is run by the German federal government. The objective of the program is to "sharply" reduce obesity rates by the year 2020.[1][2] The program will try and meet the target by improving the quality of food offered in schools and hospitals along with increasing exercise levels in children.[1][2]
As of 2007, forty percent of the Bundeswehr's 300,000 conscripts doing military service are considered overweight.[18][19] A 2007 report declared "excessive bureaucracy" for limiting the time soldiers have to exercise.[19] As a result, an anti-obesity fitness camp opened in Warendorf, North Rhine-Westphalia.[18]
A hospital in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia started Projekt Kugelblitz to help obese children and adolescence.[20] Te aim of the program is to "improve the self-perception, so that the participants develop more sensitive to the context of frustration and compulsive eating, and the selection and preparation of foods and of exercise and well-being".[20]
An anti-obesity clinic in Wesseling, North Rhine-Westphalia works with a maximum of eight participants for 27 months.[21] The program is about nutrition counseling, physical exercise and behavior therapy.[21] Each week they are cared for in highly structured and interlinked courses and motivated.[21] Up to 80 appointments are intended per year.[21]
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern go on foot or by bicycle to get where they need too more often than any other state.[5] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has the most people living a "completely healthy" life at a rate of 19.8% of the people while Saxony-Anhalt have the fewest people living a "completely healthy" life.[5] Thuringia has the healthiest eating habits while people from North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin have the worst eating habits.[5]
| Ranking | State | Percentage of people living a "completely healthy" life |
Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 19,8 | [5] |
| 2 | Lower Saxony & Bremen | 19,5 | |
| 3 | Saxony | 17,2 | |
| 4 | Bavaria | 16,5 | |
| 5 | Hesse | 14,7 | |
| 6 | Thuringia | 13,9 | |
| 7 | Schleswig-Holstein | 13,6 | |
| 8 | Berlin | 12,3 | |
| 9 | North Rhine-Westphalia | 12,0 | |
| Hamburg | 12,0 | ||
| 11 | Baden-Württemberg | 11,3 | |
| 12 | Rhineland-Palatinate & Saarland | 9,4 | |
| Brandenburg | 9,4 | ||
| 14 | Saxony-Anhalt | 7,9 |
Source: Forbes.com[22]
| Ranking | Country | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 38 | Jordan | 60.5 |
| 39 | Bahamas | 60.4 |
| 40 | Iceland | 60.4 |
| 41 | Nicaragua | 60.4 |
| 42 | Cuba | 60.1 |
| 43 | Germany | 60.1 |
| 44 | Brunei Darussalam | 59.8 |
| 45 | Slovenia | 59.8 |
| 46 | Peru | 59.6 |
| 47 | Vanuatu | 59.6 |
| 48 | Finland | 58.7 |
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