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The development of obesity directly depends on the level of education
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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The higher the level of education of Australians, the less they are threatened by obesity. This is stated in a new study of physicians from the Melbourne Institute for the Study of Heart Disease and Diabetes.
According to the authors of the study, by 2025 the number of Australians suffering from obesity will increase dramatically. But to the greatest extent this problem will affect people who have a general secondary education. If now 23% of the people of this group are suffering from obesity, then in 13 years they will already be 44%. Excessively complete at present are 20 percent of Australians who graduated from college and received secondary specialized education. By 2025 their number will increase to 39 percent. Finally, 14 percent of Australians with university education suffer from obesity today. In 13 years their number will grow to 30 percent.
"Obesity is a serious problem for all social groups," said one of the authors of the study, Kathryn Beckhowler, "But we have clearly demonstrated that less educated people who grew up in poor areas tend to have more health problems associated with overweight than their well-to-do and highly educated compatriots ".
One of the most common ways to check whether a person's weight is threatening his health is to calculate the so-called body mass index (BMI) - the ratio of body weight in kilograms to the square of growth in meters. If the adult BMI exceeds the 29.9 mark, then it is believed that this person suffers from obesity.