WORLD: Globesity (20 images)

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  • DONNA SIMPSON – GLOBESITY IN UNITED STATES<br /> April 2011 - New Jersey, United States - Donna paints her toenails in her bathroom. Donna Simpson is an American 44 year old woman who lives in New Jersey. She already weighs 602 pounds and has expressed a desire to attain a target weight of 1,000 pounds. Donna already holds the Guinness World Records as the "Heaviest woman to give birth”, when she gave birth to Jacqueline in 2007 weighing 532 pounds. She maintains a website where fans pay to watch her eat and access photos of her body. Some fans send her food, she also receives hate mails. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. The number of overweight people worldwide is now greater than the sum of those suffering from malnutrition.<br /> <br /> <br /> UPDATE:<br /> <br /> Donna Simpson. born 1967. She grew up in Ohio.<br /> <br /> I first photographed Donna Simpson in early 2011, at her home in New Jersey. <br /> At that time, she lived with her boyfriend Phillippe Gouamba and her two children Jacqueline and Devin.<br /> She then separated with her boyfriend Philippe and in june 2011, she moved back to Akron, Ohio to be with family and friends.<br /> She decided to make some drastic changes and lead a healthier life. She turned away from the fat fetish world, replacing videos of her eating with a blog about her journey to health. <br /> She decided to go on a diet in order to become more self-sufficient and to be able to do a better job of raising her children. Since she moved back to Ohio, she has lost nearly 100 pounds. <br /> <br /> Donna is currently studying to become a PhD in sociology.<br /> Once a year, she does a reality show in Japan .<br /> She is not in a relationship and lives alone in Akron with her 2 kids: Jacqueline, 7 and Devin, 18.<br /> She is a fervent devotee of the Pentecostal church in Akron, Ohio.

  • March 30, 2011 - New York, United States -  Doctor Scott J. Belsley during a bariatric surgery to do a Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass in patient named Ana Jimenez with BMI 38 and hypertension at St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.

  • CHILDHOOD OBESITY IN MEXICO<br /> <br /> Ubaldo Alexis Garcia Lopez, a 10-year-old Mexican boy, is being treated by doctors and put on oxygen machine for symptoms related to mordid obesity at the emergency room in the Federico Gomez Children´s Hospital in Mexico City, Mexico on May 20, 2011. Ubaldo weighs 170 pounds and is 145 centimeters tall. He has a BMI of 36,5 and was diagnosed with chronic severe obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea, Metabolic Syndrome X and acanthosis nigricans. Ubaldo is a young student from a family living in Iztapalapa, one of the poorest areas in the Mexican capital. The poor in Mexico have a difficult time accessing preventive health care and education about unhealthy food. There is a high prevalence of obesity among the poor in Mexico. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, and public health officials are increasingly alarmed by the rapid rise in child and youth obesity. Mexico holds the first place worldwide in childhood obesity. About one-third of children in Mexico are now classified as either overweight or obese. This is the highest rate in the world, even higher than in the United States - which historically had the highest rate. Also, diabetes, of which obesity is a contributing factor, has become the No. 1 cause of death in Mexico. <br /> <br /> UPDATE<br /> When I met Ubaldo in 2011, he weighed 169 pounds and was 145 centimeters tall with a BMI of 36,5. He was close to death and had to go to the emergency room.<br /> In 2012, he weighed 157,4 pounds and weighs 151,4 centimeters. He has a BMI of 31,1. He has reduced his weight with the help of doctors, a more balance diet and the use of a BPAP machine, which help treats his breathing difficulties. He continue his studies and with his parents, he attends the weekly nutrition program of the obesity clinic at the Federico Gomez Children's Hospital in Mexico City to learn about nutrition and follow a more healthy diet.

  • 2011 - Mexico City, Mexico - Mariel Lopez Alvarez, a thirteen year old Mexican girl with obesity attends a nutrition program at the obesity clinic of the Federico Gomez Children’s Hospital in Mexico City, to learn about how to improve her eating habits and eat healthy foods with the goal of losing weight and prevent morbid obesity. Mariel weights 192 pounds and has a BMI of 35,9. Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, and public health officials are increasingly alarmed by the rapid rise in child and youth obesity. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, and public health officials are increasingly alarmed by the rapid rise in child and youth obesity.

  • April 24, 2011 – Mexico City, Mexico – A Mexican woman with obesity gets out of a public swimming pool in Mexico City. Obesity is a massive epidemic affecting countries around the world. Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, and public health officials are increasingly alarmed by the rapid rise in child and youth obesity. Mexico holds the first place worldwide in childhood obesity About one-third of children in Mexico are now classified as either overweight or obese. There is also a high prevalence of obesity among the poor in Mexico. Photo credit: Benedicte Desrus

  • 2012 - Mexico City, Mexico - Jose Manuel Perea Rosas, a sixteen year old Mexican boy, attends a monthly consultation at the Federico Gomez children´s Hospital in Mexico City for symptoms related to severe morbid obesity. Jose Manuel weighs 333 pounds and is 162,5 centimeters high with a BMI 57,2. He has gained 32 pounds since his first visit to the hospital in 2009 when he weighed 301 pounds and was 161,3 centimeters tall with a BMI 52. He says he has been larges since he was 4 year old, and kept on gaining weight. He has been diagnosed with morbid obesity, Metabolic Syndrome X, insulin resistance, acanthosis nigricans, systemic arterial hypertension, Ventricular hypertrophy, fatty liver disease, chronic severe obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea, Cryptorchidism, bilateral genu valgum, instability of the Capsular ligaments and Palmoplantar keratodermas. Jose Manuel would like to get a bariatric surgery, but he must loose weight and get his BMI down to 45 before he can apply. Jose Manuel is a student from a family with financial difficulties living in Ecatepec de Morelos. The poor in Mexico have a difficult time accessing preventive health care and education about unhealthy food. Obesity is a massive epidemic affecting countries around the world. Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, and public health officials are increasingly alarmed by the rapid rise in child and youth obesity. Mexico holds the first place worldwide in childhood obesity. About one-third of children in Mexico are now classified as either overweight or obese.

  • OBESITY IN KENYA – EAST AFRICA <br /> <br /> November 2012 – Ruth Gathu takes a shower after a workout session with her nutritionist. Ruth Gathu is a thirty-five year old Kenyan woman who works as an administrator. She lives alone, is not in a relationship and has no children.<br /> <br /> She weights 299 pounds and weighs 175 centimetres. She has a BMI of 44.3.<br /> <br /> She says: “In Kenya, people don’t spend money on nutrition programs”. <br /> “Obesity is in all the social class in Kenya, the rich, middle class and poor.”<br /> <br /> Ruth likes her body, but she decides to reduce her weight, following the nutrition program and advices of her best friend who works as a nutritionist in Nairobi.<br /> Together, they go swimming and work out weekly.<br /> <br /> Nairobi has a high prevalence of overweight and obesity among women, especially those in the middle and upper class.<br /> <br /> Like elsewhere in the world, the main drivers of obesity in Kenya are rapid urbanization and westernization, that have resulted in changing lifestyles such as increased consumption of “unhealthy diets” and adoption of sedentary lifestyles.

  • OBESITY IN KENYA – EAST AFRICA<br /> <br /> Magdalene Wanjiru, a 46-year-old Kenyan woman, is being weighed by a nurse at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, East Africa on July 12, 2012. Magdalena weighs 305 pounds, is 165 centimeters tall and has a BMI of 50.8. She has high blood pressure and suffers from several morbid obesity-related diseases. Her legs often hurt, but she didn't linked the pain to her weight. Every time Magdalena needs to go to the hospital to be treated, she has to travel two hours and a half from where she lives. Magdalena has 3 children and is a housewife. Although large parts of Africa are plagued with malnutrition, the continent must now also deal with another problem: obesity. Obesity is fast becoming a serious problem in Africa and even the poorest are now being affected. Obesity rates are climbing around the world and they are rising faster in developing countries than in developed ones. Photograph by Bénédicte Desrus

  • DONNA SIMPSON – GLOBESITY IN UNITED STATES<br /> April 2011 - New Jersey, United States - Donna takes care of her daughter Jacqueline who is sick, at home. Donna Simpson is an American 44 year old woman who lives in New Jersey. She already weighs 602 pounds and has expressed a desire to attain a target weight of 1,000 pounds. Donna already holds the Guinness World Records as the "Heaviest woman to give birth”, when she gave birth to Jacqueline in 2007 weighing 532 pounds. She maintains a website where fans pay to watch her eat and access photos of her body. Some fans send her food, she also receives hate mails. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. The number of overweight people worldwide is now greater than the sum of those suffering from malnutrition.<br /> <br /> UPDATE:<br /> <br /> Donna Simpson. born 1967. She grew up in Ohio.<br /> <br /> I first photographed Donna Simpson in early 2011, at her home in New Jersey. <br /> At that time, she lived with her boyfriend Phillippe Gouamba and her two children Jacqueline and Devin.<br /> She then separated with her boyfriend Philippe and in june 2011, she moved back to Akron, Ohio to be with family and friends.<br /> She decided to make some drastic changes and lead a healthier life. She turned away from the fat fetish world, replacing videos of her eating with a blog about her journey to health. <br /> She decided to go on a diet in order to become more self-sufficient and to be able to do a better job of raising her children. Since she moved back to Ohio, she has lost nearly 100 pounds. <br /> <br /> Donna is currently studying to become a PhD in sociology.<br /> Once a year, she does a reality show in Japan .<br /> She is not in a relationship and lives alone in Akron with her 2 kids: Jacqueline, 7 and Devin, 18.<br /> She is a fervent devotee of the Pentecostal church in Akron, Ohio.

  • OBESITY IN FRANCE<br /> <br /> Emilie David (L) and Sarah Boque (R), both candidates for the regional elections of the Miss Curvy France’s contest in Toulouse, dress in the changing room in Toulouse, France on September 2011. Sarah is a 24-year-old French woman who works for a Mutual organization. She weighs 240 pounds, is 175 centimeters tall and her European size is 48/50. Emilie is a 23-year-old who works as an administrative agent. She weighs 188 pounds, is 160 centimeters tall and her European size is 48. She lives with her parents and is in a relationship since 4 years. Miss Curvy is a new annual beauty contest targeted at females aged between 18 and 35 years old who are of a size 10 and over. The contest mission is to encourage plus sizes and curvy women to accept themselves and celebrate women with curves. Obesity in France has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent years.

  • OBESITY IN KENYA – EAST AFRICA <br /> <br /> August 2011 - Ukunda, Kenya - Naomi attends free sessions at the Ceragem Ukunda Centre in Kenya. Naomi Kavindu Magutu is a 60 year old Kenyan woman with morbid obesity. She weighs more than 287 pounds. She was a teacher in the primary school, but she has retired since 5 years. She started gaining weight about 25 years ago and has continued gaining weight until she was 55 year old when she was unable to walk properly. She went to a hospital where she was given pain killers, but it did not help her so she started attending Ceragem sessions. Ceragem is a thermal massage therapy that is supposed to cure all ills. As she believed the CEragem sessions works for her, she decided to move, to live closer to the Ceragem clinic to attent daily sessions. She says since she started the Ceragem therapy she feels light, she is able to control her diet and can walk again. She thinks her obesity was inheritated from her parents. Obesity is no longer a problem confined to wealthy nations. In Africa, an increasing number of people can be categorised as obese. In some African cultures, being fat is a symbol of good life, prestige and wealth.

  • 2011 - Cairo, Egypt - Plasticines made by Haysam Mohamed, a 29 year old Egyptian man with obesity, shows him before and after his weight loss and the changes on his alimentation.

  • OBESITY IN EGYPT<br /> <br /> November 2011 - Cairo, Egypt - Haysam Mohamed, a 29 year old Egyptian man, portrayed with his wife Mona Mohamed (27 year old) in their bedroom at their home in Cairo, Egypt. <br /> In 2008, Haysam weighed 440 pounds and he decided to have a gastric bypass surgery. He says “I made the surgery because I kept gaining weight. 10 kilos every year”. “It’s an expensive surgery that costs a lot of money in Egypt. Not all people can do it. My dad had to land money and paid for the surgery.” <br /> <br /> He since lost 220 pounds and today (in 2011) he weighs 218 pounds. After such a weight loss, he had an abdominoplasty to remove excess skin and a body lifting. <br /> <br /> He works with his dad sharpening knives.<br /> Haysam get married 8 years ago and he has no kids. Because of Obesity-Related Health Problems, he can’t have kids.<br /> <br /> An increasing number of Egyptians are dying prematurely from noncommunicable diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, as a result of rising smoking and obesity rates, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).<br /> Nearly 70% of Egyptian adults are overweight, according to the latest Global Burden of Disease Study published in the British medical journal The Lancet. Forty-five percent of women and 21% of men are obese.

  • 2012 - Mexico City, Mexico - Diana Alondra Lopance Rosas, a seventeen year old Mexican girl with severe morbid obesity, is being checked by a doctor at the General Hospital in Mexico City. Diana weighs 315 pounds and is 158,5 centimetres tall. She has a BMI of 56.7 and was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2, arterial hypertension, metabolic syndrome and deep venous insufficiency. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, and public health officials are increasingly alarmed by the rapid rise in child and youth obesity.

  • OBESITY IN KENYA – EAST AFRICA <br /> <br /> August 2011 - Ukunda, Kenya - Naomi Kavindu Magutu is a 60 year old Kenyan woman with morbid obesity. She weighs more than 287 pounds and has difficulties to walk and lots of pain. She thinks her obesity was inherited from her parents. Obesity is no longer a problem confined to wealthy nations. In Africa, an increasing number of people can be categorised as obese. In some African cultures, being fat is a symbol of good life, prestige and wealth.

  • OBESITY IN THE UNITED STATES<br /> <br /> November 2012 - New York, United States – Michael Hebranko and his wife Madelaine at the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Michael Hebranko is a an American man suffering from an extreme case of morbid obesity, known to be among the heaviest people in the world. <br /> <br /> Mike Hebranko was born in Brooklyn in 1954.<br /> At the age of 16 his weight was 353 pounds.<br /> In 1990, he was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest recorded weight loss. He dropped his weight from 906 pounds to 200 pounds in 19 months with the help of the dieting and exercise coach Richard Simmons. <br /> But then he gained most of it back again and In June 1999, Hebranko was at his peak weight of 1,100 pounds. <br /> Over the past years, he had to be repeatedly hospitalized and today (in 2012) he weighs 550 pounds and is battling for his life. He says: “I'm a food addict, and like any alcoholic who has their first drink, or heroin addict who first injects, I fell off the wagon.” <br /> <br /> UPDATE:<br /> Michael Hebranko died on July 25th, 2013.<br /> He was an advocate for the obese and founded OPIN a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching and helping people that suffered from obesity and also educating the public on this condition. His whole life he battled with obesity.

  • OBESITY IN MEXICO<br /> <br /> September 2013 – Mexico City, Mexico - Marbella Aguilar Sosa is a 57 year old Mexican woman with morbid obesity.<br /> In September 2013, she had her first visit at the Rubén Leñero hospital in Mexico City to received treatment, she then weighed 277 pounds and has a BMI of 51.6. <br /> She suffers from obesity-related diseases: hypertension, high blood pressure, hypertriglyceridemia, knee arthritis, spinal sclerosis. She had a lot of pain and could barely walked.<br /> She is retired, but used to work as a teacher. She today lives in a shelter for elderly women.<br /> She used to weigh 140 pounds (12 years ago). But 8 years ago, her daughter died of leukemia. Since then, she has depression and started to change her eating habits and gained a lot of weight.<br /> In 2013, because of too much pain and obesity-related diseases, she decided to have a bariatric surgery and today (in 2014) she has lost 92 pounds, has less pain on her knees and walks better.

  • Childhood obesity in Mexico. <br /> <br /> Pedro Alfonso Ignacio Vanegas Bravo, a Mexican 17 year oldteenager, during a medical check-up after a consequent weight-loss at the Federico Gomez Children's Hospital in Mexico City, Mexico on September 20, 2013. Pedro became obese at age 7 and at one point weighed 128 kilos, a condition he inherited from his father who died of morbid obesity. In 2011 Pedro had a bariatric surgery and today he weighs 74.3 kilos. He is a student and passionate about playing American football. Obesity is a massive epidemic affecting countries around the world. Mexico has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, and public health officials are increasingly alarmed by the rapid rise in child and youth obesity. Mexico holds the first place worldwide in childhood obesity About one-third of children in Mexico are now classified as either overweight or obese. There is also a high prevalence of obesity among the poor in Mexico.

  • 2012 - Donna at the supermarket in Akron, Ohio. Donna Simpson is an American 45 year old woman who lives in New Jersey. She already weighs 602 pounds and has expressed a desire to attain a target weight of 1,000 pounds. Donna already holds the Guinness World Records as the "Heaviest woman to give birth”, when she gave birth to Jacqueline in 2007 weighing 532 pounds. She maintains a website where fans pay to watch her eat and access photos of her body. Some fans send her food, she also receives hate mails. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally. The number of overweight people worldwide is now greater than the sum of those suffering from malnutrition.<br /> <br /> UPDATE:<br /> <br /> Donna Simpson. born 1967. She grew up in Ohio.<br /> <br /> I first photographed Donna Simpson in early 2011, at her home in New Jersey. <br /> At that time, she lived with her boyfriend Phillippe Gouamba and her two children Jacqueline and Devin.<br /> She then separated with her boyfriend Philippe and in june 2011, she moved back to Akron, Ohio to be with family and friends.<br /> She decided to make some drastic changes and lead a healthier life. She turned away from the fat fetish world, replacing videos of her eating with a blog about her journey to health. <br /> She decided to go on a diet in order to become more self-sufficient and to be able to do a better job of raising her children. Since she moved back to Ohio, she has lost nearly 100 pounds. <br /> <br /> Donna is currently studying to become a PhD in sociology.<br /> Once a year, she does a reality show in Japan .<br /> She is not in a relationship and lives alone in Akron with her 2 kids: Jacqueline, 7 and Devin, 18.<br /> She is a fervent devotee of the Pentecostal church in Akron, Ohio.

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