60% of NI adults fat: DHSSPS

Northern Ireland has remained steadily fat over the past five years with approximately 60 per cent of adults registering as either overweight, obese or morbidly obese each year between 2010/11 and 2014/15.

Only around 40 per cent of the adult population registered as having a normal weight or as being underweight in each of these years.

Figures released by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Service (DHSSPS) show that whilst the problem of widespread obesity didn’t get any better it didn’t get any worse over the five year period either.

Information on Body Max Index (BMI) levels is collected through the Health Survey Northern Ireland.

This survey has run on a financial year basis since April 2010.

Only two percent of the adult population was registered as morbidly obese on average but 22 per cent were registered as obese and 36 per cent as overweight over the half decade, on average - over half of the adult population.

Obesity is a term used to describe somebody who is very overweight, with a lot of body fat.

It’s a common problem, estimated to affect around one in every four adults and around one in every five children aged 10 to 11 across the United Kingdom, according to experts from the National Health Service (NHS).