One in six Luxembourgers is overweight
Karolina Grabowska, Unsplash
The obesity problem in Luxembourg has worsened in recent years. In 2019, 16.5 per cent of adults were diagnosed as obese, compared to 15.6 per cent in 2014. Of particular concern is the rise in the number of overweight adolescents, from 14 per cent in 2006 to 21 per cent in 2022. These figures are comparable to those in France, where socio-economic factors also play a crucial role.
Interestingly, young people from low-income families were more likely to be obese in 2022 (31 per cent) compared to their wealthier peers. This once again confirms that obesity is not only a medical problem, but also a social one. Luxembourg is actively working to tackle it, for example, with the "Eat Right and Move More" programme and specialised networks to help people with diabetes and morbid obesity
However, there is an important barrier: data collected by different agencies are stored in isolation. This makes common analyses difficult and possibly slows progress.
Although measures of children's body weight, height and weight are collected and stored up to 10 years after school leaving, the lack of integration between databases from different agencies limits the scope for more effective analyses. Nevertheless, these data are already being used to identify public health priorities.
An important direction is to discuss the recognition of obesity as a chronic disease. This step can reduce stigma and improve access to specialised medical care.
