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IRELAND HAS THE second highest rate of obesity in the EU with more than a quarter of the adult population in the Republic classified as obese, according to figures published by the European Commission.
The EU-wide survey of overweight rates among Europeans reveals that 26% of Irish adults in 2019 were obese.
According to the Eurostat report, only Malta with 28% had a higher share of its population rated as obese, while the EU average was 16%.
Ireland was ranked seventh with an obesity rate of 18% when a similar survey was previously carried out in 2014.
Ireland fares better in terms of the proportion of the population considered overweight – a combination of obese and “pre-obese” indivdiuals.
With 56% of adults in the Republic classified as overweight, it ranks Ireland towards the middle of the 27 EU countries with the highest share of overweight adults found in Croatia and Malta with 64%.
In contrast, the lowest share was found in Italy and France with 45% of adults overweight.
People are considered overweight if they have a Body Mass Index (BMI) – a measure of a person’s body fat which is based on their weight relative to their height – of 25 or more.
A person’s BMI is calculated by their weight in kilogrammes being divided by the square of their height in metres.
Adults with a BMI of 30 or higher are considered obese, while a BMI in the range 18.5-25 is classified as normal.
Overall, the Eurostat figures which contain the first results of the European Health Interview Survey show that just over half of all adults in the EU are overweight.
While 45% had a normal weight in 2019, 53% were classified as overweight with almost 3% regarded as underweight.
The European Commission said weight problems and obesity are increasing at a rapid rate in most EU member states.
A Eurostat spokesperson said obesity is a serious public health problem as it significantly increases the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart diseases and certain cancers.
“For specific individuals, obesity may be further linked to a wide range of psychological problems,” the spokesperson said.
He added: “For society as a whole, it has substantial direct and indirect costs that put a considerable strain on healthcare and social resources.”
The study found that more men than women were overweight in all 27 EU member states.
In Ireland, 61% of males are overweight compared to 49% of females.
However, there is little difference in obesity rates with 26% of Irish men and 25% of Irish women considered obese.
With the exception of individuals aged 75 and over, the figures show the older the age group the higher the share of overweight people in the EU.
The same trend is also followed largely in Ireland where the healthiest are those aged 18-24 with 40% overweight rising to 61.5% among those aged 45-64 years.
The highest rate of obesity in Ireland is found among Irish people aged 65-74 with 32% classified as obese.
Eurostat said a pattern was also clear for education level with the share of overweight people falling as the educational level rises.
In Ireland, people living in the Border region – which covers the counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo – are most likely to be overweight or obese.
The figures show 59% of adults in the Border region are overweight with 30% obese.
At the other end of the scale, people in the West region (Galway, Mayo and Roscommon) – and the South West (Cork and Kerry) have the lowest overweight rates at 53%.
The West region has the lowest obese rate at 23%.
The figures on overweight rates in Ireland were collated by the Central Statistics Office from a survey of around 7,600 individuals as part of the Irish Health Survey 2019.
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out of the 253 incidents, how many were carried out by foreign nationals?.
Are u taking the piss.
David, I don`t think Ando is taking the piss. This activity seems to be the exclusive domain of foreign nationals. I don`t know the set up, but a check of the stats will show you that nearly all of those caught at this ATM game are of Eastern European origin. That is not a racist remark, simply the facts.
How does it matter?
David, care to provide source of your statistics?
Maybe he asked Homer Simpson…. Seems to work for Danny.
Where you get your stats is a valid question…so where did they come from???
Do u not mean ando???
Plus I believe it was irish low lives that crashed a JCB into a shop and stole the whole ATM.
In 2006, I was at a seminar on ATM Security and Fraud.The speaker (Head of Security for a major Irish Bank) stated that 9 out of 10 devices found on machines were traced back to an Eastern European or Russian crime syndicate.We were informed that some of the devices, that are extremely high tech, are worth €250,000 euro each!Many of the guys who plant them on the machines have been people trafficked into Ireland and to repay their exorbitant travel costs, they must attach and collect data from ‘skimming’ machines!The other ‘skimming’ machines (1 in 10) that were found were far more crudely made and attributed to Nigerian crime outfits.
So going by what this guy told us, in 2006, 100% of ATM ‘skimming’ machines were foreign made and owned. Maybe this has changed and other nationalities (including Irish) have taken up what is a highly lucrative activity estimated to be worth anywhere between €3.5 and €10 million every year!
One word…Romanians
One word: Romani. Romanians and Romani quite difference, ignorant heads will never comprehend. In Romania there is lot of decent hard working people (in Ireland too), these are gypsies from Romania that give them bad name and awful presence all over the world.
@dirpaddy.. I have been to Romania and they are a lovely race of people who are sick to death of people like you who confuse them with Roma.. have you ever met a real Romania as opposed to a Roma? it’s very hard to spot a Romanian person a they just look continental.. of all the countries I have visited in Europe Romania was the biggest suprise, its a bit backward but the people are friendly charming and very kind.
Gents,
You should know well by now that you cannot say a word about anyone from abroad because you will be immediately accused of not being a happy-clappy multiculturalist.
That we all know the answer is not enough.
its simply not PC to talk about foreigners ( yes, there, I said it, the F word !!) and their involvement in anything, other than religious festivals and projects run by women with double-barrelled surnames
Ah come on The journal, ATM Machine? Really? Automated Teller Machine Machine? like pin number? pcb board?
@Brian @Ando
Yeah sure, everything bad in this country is because of foreigners. They steal your jobs, they steal from your atm’s, they steal your women, etc. etc. :-)
To be bit more serious, I doubt there are any statistics showing what you are suggesting, most likely these stats are nothing more than a product of your prejudiced imagination.
In fact there were few news in past year or two saying about some eat european gangs skimming ATM’s in Ireland, but I don’t think there is more info than just that. And reason for it is probably only that Irish thugs didn’t have technology that other thugs brought in, not that they were so noble they decided not to ever touch any ATM’s… You want to comment, get your facts right, otherwise you just create biassed lies.
@Derek Marten
OK, thanks for that info, but even knowing these facts, what difference that makes who they are?
If somebody can afford 250K worth skimming equipment, they are not average guys, but mafia.
I’ve googled couple other news from around the world about ATM skimming that took places all over the world, and indeed they quite often mention Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian involvement, whether that be USA or France or Ireland.
However these are clearly people not linked with any East European minorities living in Ireland or any other country, but they are professional criminal groups doing their “jobs” all over the world. Suggestions made here in couple comments were quite obviously made towards East Eur. immigrants leaving in Ireland like they were to blame. Believe me that east E.U. people bank accounts were robbed too, I doubt criminals were doing refunds for non English sounding names :P
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