It was a lot more than that -- this was achieved through concentrated effort by Finnish government:

• The Guardian: Fat to fit: how Finland did it

> According to sports and health experts, it is one of only two countries to have halted the downward spiral towards terminal couch potatoism, or sedentary inactivity to use the official parlance. Only Canada, though New Zealand may be a contender, can claim to have done as much to get people off their sofas and exercising. [...]

> Topping the league of death shocked the government into a full-blown campaign to dramatically improve peoples' health. And it seems to have worked. [...] Having come so far, Finland now finds itself in the spotlight from health officials across the world who are desperate to find out what it was the Finns got so right. [...]

> "The biggest innovation was massive community-based intervention. We tried to change entire communities, "says Puska. Instead of a mass campaign telling people what not to do, officials blitzed the population with positive incentives. Villages held "quit and win" competitions for smokers, where those who didn't spark up for a month won prizes. Entire towns were set against each other in cholesterol-cutting showdowns. "We would go in, measure everyone's cholesterol, then go back two months later, "says Puska. The towns that cut cholesterol the most would win a collective prize. "We didn't tell people how to cut cholesterol, they knew that. It wasn't education they needed, it was motivation. They needed to do it for themselves. "

> Local competitions were combined with sweeping nationwide changes in legislation. All forms of tobacco advertising were banned outright. Farmers were all but forced to produce low-fat milk or grow a new variety of oilseed rape bred just for the region that would make domestic vegetable oil widely available for the first time. Previously, farmers had been paid for meat and dairy on the basis of the product's fat content. The changes recognised the flaw and linked payment instead to how much protein the produce contained.

> Often, moves were attacked for being unpatriotic. Finland was a dairy-rich country and marginalising dairy farmers was viewed with disdain by many. But there were ways around the protests. When officials said the population must start eating fruit, protests poured in that fruit would have to be imported. To placate the farmers, the scheme was revised to encourage the growing of berries that thrive in a Baltic climate. Now Finland has a healthy industry producing all manner of berries, from redcurrants to blackberries.

> In time, the Finnish authorities succeeded in forcing down salt intake, a crucial move for cutting blood pressure, and blood cholesterol has fallen along with fat intake and smoking. In 1972, more than half the middle-aged men of North Karelia smoked. Now around 30% do and the country boasts one of the lowest smoking rates in the world, despite having not yet fully imposed its stringent anti-smoking laws.

• WHO: Finland curbs childhood obesity by integrating health in all policies

> Recognizing that most of the factors that influence child and adolescent health lie outside the health sector, Finland is taking a Health in All Policies approach in its Health Care Act by directing cities, like Seinäjoki, to incorporate health into all of their decision-making areas.

> “The Government has reformed the Health Care Act to mandate health promotion services and require municipalities to involve all sectors in their plans,” explains Marjaana Pelkonen, Ministerial Advisor, Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

> Seinäjoki and other municipalities are providing free health care counselling and health examinations of equal quality to all children and their families because of Government Decree 338 enacted under the Health Care Act in 2011. Without the decree, many municipalities would have lacked the resources to hire additional public health nurses and physicians to support their programmes to improve child health.

> The National Institute of Health and Welfare, under the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, is helping municipalities implement national policies, like the Health Care Act. Municipalities can regularly track their progress on national monitoring websites, share best practices and attend trainings on implementing legislation through a Health In All Policies approach.

Whoever tell people to lose weight are propagandists from big pharmas to sell diet pills.