The 15th European Congress on Obesity is taking place in Budapest, Hungary this week. In the article
European Congress on Obesity deals with bariatric surgery techniques, outcomes and metabolic benefits, I was surprised to read that
"[s]pecial attention was needed in Eastern Europe where obesity rates are among the highest and particularly to the alarming increase in childhood obesity." I don't know about you, but when I think Ukraine or Azerbijan, I don't think obesity.
How is it that Eastern Europe is growing fatter, faster than the rest of Europe?
If countries in Eastern Europe are growing fatter, I have to wonder, do they also have high rates of CHD?
Seven countries in Eastern Europe have abyssimal rates of CHD in men; in fact, per 100,000, deaths from CHD is reported as:
- Armenia 464
- Georgia 507
- Uzbekistan 540
- Moldova 650
- Azerbijan 662
- Kazakhstan 703
- Ukraine 839
In the United States, deaths from heart disease is 106.5/100,000.
Their life expectancy isn't too good either:
- Armenia 71.84
- Georgia 76.09
- Uzbekistan 64.58
- Moldova 65.65
- Azerbijan 63.85
- Kazakhstan 66.89
- Ukraine 69.98
In the United States, our life expectancy is 77.85 years.
I bet they eat too much fat in their diet!
Oh, maybe not....
In each country, the percentage of calories from fat:
- Armenia 17.2%
- Georgia 18.5%
- Uzbekistan 28.7%
- Moldova 16.7%
- Azerbijan 16.4%
- Kazakhstan 28%
- Ukraine 25.1%
Ok, I bet they eat way too much saturated fat in their diet!
Oh, maybe not....
All consume less than 10% of their calories from saturated fat, and three even consume less than the AHA's optimal target of "less than 7%" of calories from saturated fat:
- Armenia 7.3%
- Georgia 5.2%
- Uzbekistan 9.2%
- Moldova 5.8%
- Azerbijan 5.7%
- Kazakhstan 8.1%
- Ukraine 7.6%
Just some food for thought, since, ya know, we're repeatedly reminded to reduce our dietary fat, and especially our consumption of saturated fat; of course this is in an effort to not only keep our weight within normal, but also to reduce our risk for coronary heart disease (CHD).
Data from MONICA and CIA World Factbook.
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