Obesity as a public health challenge of nations in transition- Albania, Northern Macedonia and Kosovo

• Author: Naser Rugova
• Position: University for Business and Technology - UBT
• Pages: 48-52

48

Vol. 6 No.2

September, 2020

Balkan Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

ISSN 2410-759X

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

Obesity as a public health challenge of nations in transition- Albania,

Northern Macedonia and Kosovo

Naser Rugova

University for Business and Technology - UBT

Abstract

Obesity has become one of the most acute problems in terms of public health and its challenges

in contemporary life trends, being considered as the disease of the 21st century. Healthy eating

and prevention of obesity is one of the main priorities in many countries around the world,

especially developed ones, but in transition countries such as Kosovo, Albania and Northern

Macedonia leaves much to be desired. Obesity has been described as a public health problem

that is gradually gaining epidemic proportions. The prevalence of overweight and obesity is

increasing alarmingly from one region to another, from under 5% in Africa, to 20% in Europe

and up to over 30% in America and some Middle Eastern countries. In Europe, obesity is

estimated to have tripled in the last 20 years. In the modern life trends of an increased dynamic,

food with di erent artifi cial ingredients, lifestyle change and lack of physical activity, has

made obesity a serious problem that is challenging countries with highly advanced health

systems, related to the impact it has on society. Such an issue is an example of a problem

that can only be solved with the cooperation of various factors such as family, community,

school, health education and concrete measures to be taken by the competent institutions for

public health. The purpose of this paper is to refl ect the level of treatment of this issue with

a serious impact on public health in three developing countries: Albania, Kosovo and North

Macedonia, through a qualitative, comparative, statistical method and review of literature and

o cial statistics.

Keywords: Obesity, prevalence, age group, nutrition, health consequences.

Introduction

Overweight and obesity come as a result of an imbalance between consumed energy

(to an extreme) and expended energy (excessively li le). Around the world, there has

been a move in food utilization designs whereby individuals are consuming foods

higher in energy (those high in sugars and fats); simultaneously, they are taking part

in less physical action. Utilizing the World Health Organization (WHO's) cuto s,

grown-ups with a weight record (BMI; this is weight/tallness squared) of at least

25 are named overweight; those with a BMI of at least 30 are categorized as obese.

The terms overweight and obesity both recognize individuals who are in danger for

medical issues from having an excessive amount of body fat. (Romieu et al., 2017)

Handling the ascent in overweight and obesity in developing nations implies

understanding that over nutrition isn't really about eating an excessive amount

of food, but it is about eating inappropriate sorts of food. Expanding economic

developments and urbanization have prompted changes in ways of life around the

globe, lead to stationary work and a dependence for prepared foods and fast food.

Food systems nowadays have brought an utilization of readily prepared foods, a