Philippines now near epicenter of obesity
Dr. David Heber, chairman of the Herbalife Nutrition Institute, revealed that nine out of 10 Filipino consumers surveyed by the global nutrition company Herbalife are “highly concerned” about the potential diseases that an unhealthy lifestyle can cause them, with the same number believing that simple lifestyle changes can help improve their overall well-being.
Dr. Heber said the new epicenter of obesity in the Asia Pacific is China and India. The Philippines, however, is gradually catching up as Filipinos are too accustomed to Western diet and lifestyle.
He further said while the population in Asia seems so thin, obesity is a looming problem that needs to be addressed before it becomes a regional pandemic. “Body fat in the abdominal area is associated with many problems even when people are ‘overfat’, but not obese by weight criteria. There is also an increased popularity of the Western diet and lifestyle in Asia, which has increased abdominal fat and worsened biomarkers of metabolic syndrome, which is very common in the United States and growing rapidly in Asia,” he added.
The endocrinology expert suggested a diet that incorporates meal replacements to improve weight loss and weight maintenance for the following reasons: easier to plan meals, reduces barriers to dietary adherence, helps instill regular eating patterns, may increase accuracy of calorie estimation and estimation of portion size, provides a simple guide for healthy nutrition, positively affects self-monitoring, facilitates making less deleterious food decision.
“A practical guideline is 1 gm./lb. lean body mass based on bioimpedance so that a construction worker gets 150-175 gm. while a small woman may get 75-100 gm. The key is to individualize protein in the diet based on lean body mass, not body weight,” explained Dr. Heber.
Dr. Heber was in the country for the Herbalife Asia-Pacific Wellness Tour, which is now in its fourth leg and aims to deepen people’s practical understanding of the various aspects of living a healthy active lifestyle. The Wellness Tour featured five members of the Herbalife Nutrition Advisory Board (NAB) visiting 14 markets and 21 cities across the Asia-Pacific in October. They shared their expert views on how people can make use of the little time they have to make simple lifestyle changes that will enhance their well-being.