Another oil slump spinoff: obesity
Alberta’s oil slump could have heavy, and unanticipated health consequences, experts are warning: a jump in obesity rates.
The sudden shock of job loss, debt and unemployment can trigger stress-related physiological responses that cause the body to store fat, slow the rate it burns calories and increase cravings for high- fat, calorie- loaded “comfort foods,” doctors who specialize in obesity say.
In addition, studies show that, during the 2008 global financial meltdown, families forced to cut back on food spending switched to cheaper, processed foods high in sugar and saturated fats. The hardest hit reduced their consumption of fruits and vegetables by as much as 20 per cent.
Many in Alberta are losing their jobs just as healthy food becomes even pricier: The dollar’s plunge and California drought led to a sharp rise in the prices of many fruits and vegetables in 2015, and University of Guelph researchers, in their annual Food Price Report, predict prices will increase in 2016 by up to 4.5 per cent — meaning the average household will spend $ 345 more than in 2015 for the same food, according to a university release.
“As medical professionals, we need to acknowledge that unemployment and the worries that come with it can make our patients susceptible to weight gain,” Dr. Arya Sharma, professor and chair of obesity research and management at the University of Alberta writes in a recent blog post.
“Many of the risk factors for obesity are things like stress, depression, anxiety, low self esteem and food insecurity,” Sharma added in an interview. “All are common drivers of weight gain, and I have a lot of patients who struggle with exactly these issues.”
Economic hardship and obesity “are tied together,” he says, “even though a lot of people don’t see them that way.”
One Australian s t udy found those hit hard in the last global recession had a 20- per- cent higher risk of becoming obese than those who escaped the worst of the slowdown. Already, nearly six out of 10 Albertans are overweight or obese, according to the Health Quality Council of Alberta. People with obesity face a slew of health risks, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
“My message to doctors is, if you see patients who have just lost their jobs, or they’re going through a period of financial distress, you need to remember that could be a risk factor for poor nutrition or weight gain, and it’s something you’re going to want to talk to patients about,” Sharma says.
In Calgary, home prices are falling and visits to food banks have reached record l evels. Some of Calgary’s largest employers are set to cut more jobs in 2016, adding to the already 40,000 oil and natural gas industry jobs lost in the crude oil rout, the worst in a generation.
Several studies have linked debt with an increased risk of being fat. One 2009 study involving more than 9,000 German men and women found the over-indebted were more than twice as likely to be obese than people not weighed down by debt.
A review published last summer by the OECD ( Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) on the 2008- 09 global recession found a drop in physical activity, as well as a drop in food spending on fruits and vegetables. Households in the U.K. decreased their food budgets by 8.5 per cent, but the average calorie density of purchased foods increased by five per cent.
But obesity is about more than just food insecurity, says Dr. David Lau, an expert in diabetes and obesity at the University of Calgary. Stress, chronic insomnia and worrying about money can cause people to secrete higher levels of cortisol, which in turn can increase not just total, overall body fat, but where that fat gets distributed — predominantly, the belly, the worst kind of fat.
Stress also slows metabolism and increases insulin. The result: the body stores more energy as fat.
It’s speculation at this point, “but it’s important we talk about the unexpected harm the (Alberta) economic downturn may have,” Lau says. “It’s worth alerting people to the possibility this may drive up not- so- healthy eating, and a rise in obesity as a result.”