One in nine Germans is obese
In just ten years, the proportion of extremely overweight people in Germany has risen by 30 percent. According to a health insurance study, one in nine people are diagnosed with obesity. Experts fear that up to a quarter of the population is now too fat.
More and more people in Germany are suffering from obesity - one in nine people are already diagnosed with obesity. This is shown by a recent data collection by the KKH Kaufmännische Krankenkasse, which is available to Funke Zeitungen. According to the survey, the number of severely overweight people rose by around a third (30.3 percent) from 2012 to 2022. The German Obesity Society assumes that as many as a quarter of all Germans are currently morbidly obese. However, not all those affected are explicitly diagnosed by a doctor.
According to the KKH survey, around 188,000 KKH policyholders across Germany were diagnosed with obesity in 2022 - that's a good eleven percent. The increasing number of extremely fat young men aged 25 to 34 is alarming. Among them, the number of obesity patients has risen by around two-thirds to just under 69% among 25 to 29-year-olds and a good 66% among 30 to 34-year-olds.
Even though the overall gender ratio is still unbalanced, with around 117,000 women and around 71,000 men, the greatest percentage increase over the past ten years has been among men. Only among men over the age of 90 was this even higher, with a doubling (97.8 percent). However, according to the KKH, the latter can be explained by the fact that there are significantly fewer people in this oldest age group overall and the number of cases is lower. According to the KKH, this means that percentage shifts are automatically greater. The increase was also highest among women with obesity, at a good 65 percent (65.5 percent).
Proportion of men rising rapidly
When comparing men and women with obesity overall, there was an increase of 41 percent in male sufferers across all age groups - and 26 percent in female sufferers. Concrete reasons for the different rates of increase between the sexes cannot be deduced from the analysis.
The KKH cites the time-intensive use of smartphones, PCs and other digital media during work and leisure time across all age groups as the reason for the overall increase in the number of people with obesity. This is usually done in a sitting position and promotes a lack of exercise, it says. Combined with an unhealthy diet, this is one of the main causes of obesity, according to the KKH.
Frustration, loneliness, stress, boredom
"People often eat too often, too much and too quickly, whether due to a lack of satiety, frustration and loneliness, stress, problems or boredom," says KKH nutritionist Anja Luci. "Foods and drinks whose energy content is underestimated are also often on the menu. The classics include yogurt, muesli bars and orange juice." Taking certain medications can also promote morbid obesity.
Obesity is a nutritional and metabolic disease. Those affected have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. To calculate the BMI, the body weight in kilograms is divided by the square of the height in meters. Age also plays a role, as the normal weight shifts the older you get.
International health insurance companies are increasingly focusing on obesity-related health risks due to rising obesity rates in countries like Germany. Recent studies suggest that up to a quarter of the German population may be considered morbidly obese, impacting their overall health and leading to increased healthcare costs.
Recognizing the severity of the issue, some health insurance companies in Germany are offering specialized programs for obesity management and prevention to help their overweight policyholders reduce their weight and subsequently lower their health insurance premiums.
Source: www.ntv.de
