55% in Kazakhstan are overweight

More than a half of the Kazakhstan population have excess weight. The representatives of the Kazakh Academy of Nutrition (KAN) discussed this problem at the press-conference earlier this month, Tengrinews reports. According to KAN, every fifth child under 14 (22%) is overweight or obese. Among the adults the number people with this problem is much higher: 55% of all the men and women in Kazakhstan are overweight. "These are average numbers, the rate is even higher among elderly people. There is a difference obesity and overweight, there is a gradation. 25% of women, 16% of men and 11% of children are obese. These are enormous numbers," Vice-President of KAN Shamil Tazhibayev said. KAN believes it is high time to beat the alarm. Together with the Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and Science, KAN is implementing a tree-year program to raise awareness of the negatives effect of excess weight on people's health in Kazakhstan. Another Vice-President of KAN Yury Sinyakovsky recommends to eat more low-calorie food to prevent overweight. "KAN is now developing several products that are rich with plant sterines. We are going to work on products based on cereals," Sinyakovsky said. He hopes that these products will fill the market niche and become very useful in fighting with overweight. By Assemgul Kassennova