Europe will face an obesity crisis of enormous proportions by 2030 unless immediate action is taken, according to latest projections released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday. At a congress in Prague, the WHO’s Regional Office for Europe presented the results of an obesity forecast which was undertaken with the UK Health Forum. The experts looked at data from all European countries and compared 2010 figures with projected levels for 2030. Being “overweight” is defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25 and 30 and “obese” by a BMI of 30 and above.They present a worrying picture of rising obesity across Europe. Ireland leads the trend - 91% of men and 85% of women in the country are expected to be overweight by 2030. The overweight category also includes obese people. Almost 57% of Irish women are likely to be obese in 2030, compared with 23% in 2010. In the UK, 73% of men and 63% of women are forecast to be obese in 2030. One third (33%) of women will be obese in 2030, compared with over one quarter (26%) in 2010, while obesity figures for men will rise from 26% to 36% over the same period. Dr Laura Webber, of the UK Health Forum, warned there was “a worrying picture of rising obesity across Europe“. She said: “ Policies to reverse this trend are urgently needed. Although there is no ‘silver bullet’ for tackling the epidemic, governments must do more to restrict unhealthy food marketing and make healthy food more affordable.“ Other countries facing growing obesity problems include Greece, Spain, Austria and the Czech Republic. An estimated 77% of Greek men is forecast to be overweight by 2030 compared to 66% in 2010, while the proportion of obese Greek men will more than double from 20% to 44% over the same period. Obesity levels for Greek women are predicted to jump from 20% in 2010 to 40% in 2030. Even Sweden, where there has traditionally been a low prevalence of obesity, will see significant rises. Only the Netherlands seems to be doing slightly better than their neighbours. Only half of Dutch men will be overweight and just 8% obese by 2030. For Dutch women, the proportion of overweight will remain stable and the obesity rate is predicted to fall from 13% to 9% during this period. (ab)