Sixty-four percent of adults in Israel are overweight, a World Health Organization report on world obesity published this week said. Obesity was also reported in 7% of Israeli children ages 7-15.
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"Too little effort is devoted to the fight against obesity which is a disease common in the country," Dr. Dror Dicker, director of the overweight treatment center at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, said in light of the report.
To remedy obesity, Dicker advocates the establishment of footpaths and cycle paths, the increase in taxes on products deemed harmful to health as well as the opening of specialized care centers.
He also cautioned against dieting saying that, "diets are often ineffective and can lead to eating disorders."
According to the WHO report, Malta and Turkey are worse off than Israel, with respectively 66% and 67% of their populations being overweight respectively. It also noted that obesity increased in developed countries in particular after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a previous report published by the WHO earlier this month, its experts pointed to an "epidemic" of obesity and overweight rates in Europe.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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