By Graeme Strachan

MORE THAN A quarter of women in Tayside and Fife are now clinically obese, above the national average, figures released by the Scottish Executive have revealed.

Some 28% of women and 16% of men in Tayside are classified as clinically obese, risking health problems that include diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

In Fife, 27% of women and 20% of men are obese, according to figures given in a parliamentary written answer by the health minister, Andy Kerr.

A Dundee University nutrition expert yesterday said the average man or woman is overweight.

Professor Annie Anderson said NHS Tayside have excellent plans for facing the obesity challenges but the problem cannot be dealt with solely by the health service.

“I think the figures reflect pretty much what is going on across the country and highlight the need for action.

“The average man or woman in the street will be in the overweight or obese category so we have become rather complacent and accepting of larger sizes without always realising the health problems that accompany the increase in girth.

“How big a problem does it need to become before significant financial resources are put into effective prevention, management and treatment?

“You can get people to lose weight but the real problem is getting them to keep it off.”

Professor Anderson said even by losing a relatively small amount of weight, an obese person would gain a significant amount of health benefits if they can keep the weight off.

“The main goal of weight management is to avoid weight gain,” she added.

“If a year from now we are exactly the same weight, we’ve achieved weight management.

“If we don’t manage our weight we can expect at least two thirds of adults to reach old age with the health and financial problems associated with larger sizes.

“There are a lot of people that are overweight, and if you keep them in that overweight category you reduce the risk of them becoming obese and developing health defects.”

She added, “We must take a partnership approach to the problem, involving local councils and other public and private sector organisations.”

Tayside has the third highest rate of obese women in Scotland— behind Forth Valley on 32% and Dumfries and Galloway with 30%—although the region has the lowest rate of obese men in Scotland.

The figures also revealed 65,500 people contacted either their GP or a member of the practice team on obesity problems last year.

However, Mr Kerr said the figures were likely to “considerably underestimate” the true number of obese people in Scotland because many do not consult their GP.

Also, patients may visit the practice for a medical condition related to obesity without obesity itself being recorded.

SNP health spokeswoman and Dundee East MSP Shona Robison said the problem of obesity must be treated much more seriously in Scotland.

She also urged the Executive to look towards Finland to learn lessons.

Finland had the highest rate of deaths from heart problems in the world in the 1970s.

However, as a result of an assertive public education campaign to promote exercise and healthy diet it has escaped the escalating obesity rates now emerging in Britain.

“I think the figures show we have a long way to go in tackling the obesity problem,” said Ms Robison.

“I’m particularly concerned about the Tayside figures being so high for women.

“I think it’s encouraging that so many people are seeking help but we must ensure the services are there to help people when they do ask for assistance and there are clinics available to help people with diet and fitness regime.

“I think we need to look towards countries like Finland where they treat obesity as a serious medical condition but we’re still not treating it as seriously as we should.”

Director of public health Dr Drew Walker said NHS Tayside is committed to tackling obesity.

“With our healthy weight strategy, we are supporting overweight people to lose weight in their communities and aim to prevent other people from becoming overweight,” he said.

He said the strategy builds on other work such as healthy eating initiatives, cooking clubs, community food initiatives and free weight management classes.

Other schemes, he added, promote walking and cycling for individuals and families.