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HEALTH

A quarter of Germany is obese: experts

Two thirds of German men and half of German women are overweight, a new health institute study revealed on Wednesday.

A quarter of Germany is obese: experts
Photo: DPA

Sixty seven percent of men and 53 percent of women are, the Robert Koch Institute claimed, above their “normal” healthy weight and have above average body fat to muscle ratio. A further 23 percent of men and 24 percent of women are clinically obese.

Scientists at the institute split those Germans who were determined to be very overweight into three different rankings of obesity.

They also found that among their subjects, 30 years of age was the time when the connection between social status and weight was at its most defined – particularly for women.

Exactly how much of a problem obesity is becoming in Germany is highlighted by the growing number of weight-related surgeries being performed such as gastric bypasses and liposuction, said scientists.

According to figures from health insurers Techniker Krankenkasse, the number of people claiming these procedures on statutory health insurance – meaning their weight was affecting their health – had gone up by 65 percent between 2009 and 2012, to 2,813 patients.

DPA/The Local/jcw

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