Rise in extreme obesity leads to opening of special hospital unit in Prague

Worryingly high rates of obesity in Czechia have led one major Prague hospital to plan the opening of a new intensive care unit for those who are morbidly overweight.

There are an estimated 150,000 extremely obese people – with a body mass index (BMI) of over 40 – in Czechia today, a rapid increase from 20 years ago. Fast-rising demand to get medical help for obesity has prompted the General University Hospital (VFN) in Prague to open a new section devoted to bariatric procedures, ČTK reports.

According to a doctor at VFN, patients with a BMI over 40 have “no long-term chance of losing weight without bariatric surgery.” The operation can help a patient lose up to 75 percent of their original body mass. The building of the new metabolic unit is set to begin in April.

According to practionaries at the VFN, "medical, nutritional, and psychological diagnoses are key to improving the patient's condition.” Underlying conditions such as diabetes and depression must be tackled to avoid extreme BMIs, and should be addressed post-operation.

According to an obesity specialist at Motol University Hospital, people usually can only lose up to five percent of their total body weight just via diet changes and exercise.

In late 2021, a mass Eurostat study found that six in 10 Czechs were overweight and one in five was obese. This gave Czechia the (unwelcome) award of being the third-‘fattest’ country in Europe.

In contrast, in 2000 about 45 percent of the population was overweight and 14 percent was obese. In 2010, the proportion of overweight people crept up to 55 percent.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala recognized the issue, and last year committed to a national plan that would make healthier foods more affordable by reducing their value-added tax while simultaneously upping the price of sugar-based products by at least 20 percent.

This program, however, was never adopted – the Ministry of Health instead decided to create educational campaigns aimed at increasing people’s awareness of obesity-induced health risks.

With obesity costing the country dearly in terms of people’s health and high health bills, the opening of the new unit at VFN is symptomatic of a serious – and worsening – national issue.