3 fold increase of obesity patients going to hospital

According to the papers this week in only the last 5 years there has been a triple increase of people going to hospital and being diagnosed with obesity. The medical conditions which obesity was the main contributor included, breathing problems, bedsores and heart conditions. There were 11,740 such admissions last year with 3 times more women admitted than men according to the findings from the Health and Social Care Information Centre. Their findings found that fewer than 2 in 5 (37%) of adults in England are classed as 'normal' weight according to Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is the comparison of a person's height to their total body weight. A BMI of 25-29 would be considered as overweight with 30+ as obese. While in 1993 half of women were considered a healthy weight, the proportion has now dropped to 39%. The proportion of men dropped from 41 to 31% over the same period. Hospitals are also performing more weight-loss surgery with 8,790 operations carried out last year including stomach stapling and gastric bypass. This compares with only 1,950 procedures 5 years ago. Most operations were performed on women, 6,710 compared with 2,080 men. A toxic environment of easy available ready meals, high fat and sugary foods, take-aways and fast foods, which often are loaded with high saturated fats and salt and fizzy drinks, which are filled with sugars and less activity in our daily lives are to blame for this obesity epidemic. But the power of reversing this tide of ill health is in your hands. By making some small changes you can make a huge difference to your health. Start off with cutting down on foods which are loaded with saturated fats such as fried chicken and chips and replace with grilled chicken and jacket potato. Aim to have your 5 a day of fruit and veg and only have a take-away treat once a week. Cut out or down on chocolate, sweets, crisps and biscuits. Cut out the fizzy drinks for water or squash. Aim to do activities that are enough to make you sweat and be out of breath for 150 mins per week-this works out as 30 mins, 5 days per week. You can even break this down to 3 x 10 mins sections if you are time restrained or not fit enough to do moderate exercise for 30 mins in one go. Drag your family away from the computer and t.v and out for a walk in the woods or play a ball game in the park. Start taking these small steps and see how you can make a difference to yours and your families health in next to no time. Let me know your experiences and how you're getting on.

New Boxercise Class starts soon

I'm starting a new Boxercise class at Simply Studio, 120 North Street, Romford on Wednesday mornings at 10.00-11.00 am. This fun and dynamic fitness class starts on 27th Feb and brings effective drills and techniques taken from the worlds of martial arts and boxing to help burn fat, tone muscle, increase stamina, flexibility and combat stress. This non-sparring circuit class will use pads and shields and help tone and strengthen muscles like never before. Price per class is £5.00. Why don't you tell all your friends and come along.