the turkish governments order to use only stairs for the first three floors in public buildings underlines the need to tackle rising weight levels people do all kinds of things to battle the bulge lock the fridge eat in mini plates get an app that shames them and more and now the latest weapon in the fight against weight gain comes from turkey in a recent move a turkish official has come up with a novel way of tackling the issue by imposing a ban on using lifts to reach the first three floors of public buildings in a country like ours with rising obesity levels is this something that could be done here too heres morewhat its about as per reports dursun ali sahin the governor of the province of edirnes order for all elevators to be closed down in lower levels of buildings in the public sector came into effect on 31st december 2014 this will force people to take the stairs and thus whittle down their waistlines those unable to climb and hospitals are exempted from the new rule a report quotes sahin as saying this is a move to promote better health taking the stairs instead of elevators can add an extra day to your life one sugar not two this isnt the first of the turkish governors moves in the past he has also ordered that cafes and restaurants serving tea use just one sugar cube instead of two we say this might just be an idea whose time has come as sugar is not called sweet poison for nothing a report states that sugar is eight times more addictive than cocaine and maximum sugar is present in sweetened beverages and rich processed foods while indulging in that annual birthday cake or occasional treat might be okay regular consumption could be dangerous other countries battle it out did you know that obesity and its related diseases are considered a prime threat to economic development everywhere the who defines obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health its findings state that while excessive weight and obesity were once considered to be highincome country problems they are on a rampant rise in low and middleincome countries particularly in the urban milieu heres a look at how different countries handle the crisis samoa the tiny pacific archipelago is called one of the fattest nations on earth it has taxed sugary drinks wayback since 1984 mexico tackles obesity with taxes on unhealthy junk food and sugary drinks japan dont pile on the kilos in japan the lawmakers there came up with legal tactics to maintain the countrys obesity rate as per the metabo law it mandates a waistline of 354 inches for adult women and 335 inches for men aged 4074 uk as per a report in october 2014 obese people in the uk would be paid to lose the flab slimmers with jobs were given cash or shopping vouchers under the nhs plans