BBC begins anti-obesity campaign
 09 September, 2004

The BBC has thrown its weight behind a new health drive with the launch of its new Fat Nation - the Big Challenge campaign.
People are being encouraged to ban junk food and get on their bikes in a bid to lose weight and improve health.

Problems associated with obesity are expected to cost Scotland £16bn over the next 10 years, about the same as the sum spent fighting cancer.

More than half of Scotland's residents are estimated to be overweight.

Although Scotland has more people permanently on diets than any other part of the UK, a growing number of children are overweight by their third birthday.

Experts say the problem appears to be that many people in the country - which has been dubbed the sick man of Europe - do not take enough exercise.

Obesity study

Figures show six out of 10 men and seven out of 10 women do not even meet the minimum levels of activity, resulting in nearly 2,500 people dying prematurely every year.

A drive to improve men's health in particular has been launched and a growing trend has emerged to build doctors' surgeries next to gyms, so that GPs can prescribe exercise to help their patients get better.

Researchers at Edinburgh University claimed in June they could predict who was susceptible to obesity.

They said their work explained how some people could consume high-fat food without putting on weight.

They have been working with mice which, like humans, are prone to becoming fat when given a rich diet.

The study discovered that some of the mice have a natural ability to deal with a "junk food" diet without suffering ill-effects.