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by pierrebeaucamp
634 days ago
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The EU average is 53%, with most eastern member states hovering around 60%. Croatia is at 65% (as of 2019, see https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...). Sure, it's _somewhat_ lower than the US, but not to the degree that you can claim a big disparity in my opinion. As such, we could even rewrite your statement to the following: > Today I learned that 59% of Finns are obese. Never been to Finland but I'm truly baffled how people and the government could let this happen. Also, as other commenters have pointed out, "overweight" does not mean "obese". |
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And to elaborate on this: part of the reason these numbers are shockingly high vs what we subjectively experience is we have a really bad definition of overweight that miscategorizes lots of people who look (and probably are) perfectly healthy. BMI is an extremely rough guideline that's a bit useful at the state level but is a terrible metric for any individual to use to decide if they're healthy. I've seen my fair share of eating disorders directly caused by someone using BMI when it's inappropriate for their build or life stage.
When these stats are used by journalists and lay people rather than public health professionals who recognize the limitations, they're mostly good for giving >50% of everyone an excuse to pat themselves on the back that they're healthier than the >50% who are "overweight".