More than 40% of Kazakhstanis are overweight or obese
Over 40% of Kazakhstan's population is either obese or overweight. A lack of energy balance most often causes overweight and obesity. Energy balance means that your energy IN equals your energy OUT. Many people are not physically active, so lots of the calories they consume end up being stored in the body as fat. Another cause of obesity is the wrong diet. Being overweight increases the chances of developing the common type of diabetes. According to researchers in 15 years Kazakhstan has the risk of becoming the world leader in diabetes. There are about 290,000 diabetics in Kazakhstan. In the past year there were registered 16,000 new patients. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of amputation of the lower limbs throughout the world. Kazakhstani surgeons perform about five thousand leg amputation surgeries per year. "Half of the population of Kazakhstan is doing nothing to maintain healthy lifestyle. Kazakh people eat fatty meats and bread. We drink soft drinks and sweet tea. Here are four main causes of diabetes - sugar, excess carbohydrates, low water consumption and poor physical activity. Nowadays there are many obese children in our country. It's time to change dietary habits. Vegetables, fruits, water and sports will save our nation from obesity," said PhD Janay Akanov.