Let’s take an action for a healthier future
Let’s join the European Obesity Day
1. Slovak Obesity Day under the patronage of the Minister of Health JUDr. Ing. Tomáš Drucker and the head of WHO Country Office in the Slovak Republic MUDr. Darina Sedláková, MPH
According to statistic estimates, 50% of Europeans will be obese by the year 2030. The number of obese and overweight people might exceed 90%, which is very alarming. Currently, estimates for the healthcare and lower productivity costs of obesity in the European Union range around 70 milliard euro per year. However, the overall burden is likely to be even greater, because obesity is associated with many other diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer not only in adults but also in children and adolescents.
Increasing awareness of multiple causes of obesity as well as obesity prevention and treatment might significantly reduce the financial burden for a health care system as well as suffering of millions of obese individuals. It needs to be stressed that obesity is a complex disorder stemming from the interaction of lifestyle, environment and genetic predisposition. Stress, diet as well as sedentary lifestyle are actively involved in the development of obesity.
European Asociation for the Study of Obesity (EASO), which brings together organizations dealing with problems of obesity in 32 European countries , declared May 21st 2016 to be the European Obesity Day. Obesity Section of Slovak Diabetes Society (OS SDS) became a member of EASO in 2011. OS SDS is actively involved with EASO and from 2015 also with the World Obesity Federation (WOF). Obesity represents a serious problem in Slovakia and thus OS SDS welcomes the opportunity to join the European Obesity Day.
OS SDS prepared first Slovak Obesity Day in cooperation with the General Health Insurance Company (VsZP), regional public health authorities and municipalities of three major cities (Bratislava, Trnava, Kosice), with a potential to expand in future.
On Saturday, May 21st, all visitors can meet with the experts and choose from the spectrum of examinations/measurements, including blood pressure, circulating cholesterol and glucose levels, anthropometry (BMI, waist circumference and body composition: lean body mass and fat mass). Professionals will prepare a healthy menu and provide free consultations. The researchers from the Institute of Experimental Endocrinology (Biomedical Research Center SAS) in Bratislava will focus on explaining the causes and consequences of obesity at the molecular, cellular and organ level, as well as discussing recent news in the field of obesity research in the world as well as in Slovakia. In Bratislava, the professional trainers and researchers from the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Comenius University will explain the proper technique of Nordic walking.
In all three pilot cities, additional sport activities that can help develop motor skills and optimize weight (kettlebell presentation exercises, stretching, exercises on fit ball and balance board) will be held under the supervision of coaches. In Košice – the European City of Sport 2016 – the sports program will be provided by the Institute of Physical Education and Sports UPJS in cooperation with the fitness club Katie De Chimp. In Trnava, visitors will be able to talk to surgeons specialized in the surgical (bariatric-metabolic) treatment of obesity.
Doctors, professional trainers and nutrition advisors will be ready to assist from 10 AM to 2 PM in Bratislava’s Old Market (1st floor, gallery SNP) and at the City Hall in Trnava. The action in Kosice will take place in the Culture Park from 10 AM to 5 PM.
