Fast food boom pushed Romania up on obesity scales in Europe

Romania ranks third in Europe, with around half of its population overweight, and with a quarter of its inhabitants already obese, according to doctor Lygia Alexandrescu, who specialized in nutrition. Romania has climbed in the overweight ranking in Europe from 23rd place in 2003. The steep change was most likely due to the fast food boom after the 90s. Local statistics from the Institute C.I. Parhon show that a third of Romanian women are overweight while only 20 percent of men are in the same situation. Most worrying are numbers for childhood obesity – 40 percent of children in Romania are obese, statistics show. “Unfortunately, most of the people dealing with weight problems would like to lose the extra kilos over night and refuse to understand it is not possible. This explains why around 80 percent of my patients have done at least one crash diet, which consisted of starving themselves, first triggering weight loss but then backfiring when they gained back all the weight and put on more than before,” nutritionist Lygia Alexandrescu explains. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: sxc.hu)