Icelanders amongst most obese in Europe

More than half of the adult population within the European Union, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland are overweight or obese according to a new health study conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 

RUV reported that in the last 20 years, the number of overweight adults has more than doubled in these countries and according to the OECD report, Iceland is among the top four countries where this situation is the worst.

According to another report issued by OECD, “Cooperation between governments and the private sector is key to the success of combating obesity. A prevention strategy combining health promotion campaigns, government regulation and family doctors counselling their obese patients would avoid hundreds of thousands of deaths from chronic diseases every year.”

OECD claim that around 20.1 percent of adults in Iceland are overweight or obese. The report outlines that obesity levels in Malta, Ireland and the UK are worse with around 24.5 percent of adults being either obese or overweight. The OECD report advised that children should be encouraged to exercise more and eat healthy food in order to combat this problem for future generations.