What does obesity mean?
It is a medical disease characterized by abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that poses a health concern. A body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above is considered overweight, while a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.
Obesity is one side of the double
burden of malnutrition. Obesity is more frequent in women than in males.
Obesity can be considered a significant cause of mortality since it is connected
with a higher risk for severe illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease,
and cancer.
What are the underlying causes of obesity?
It is well
understood that a person's weight is determined by the balance between calorie
intake and energy expenditure. So A person acquires weight if he /she consume
more calories than he /she burns (metabolizes) the body will store the excess
energy as fat.
To a
considerable extent, this is correct; however there are additional variables
that influence weight and causes obesity such as genetics, metabolism,
environment, and behavior as following:
Overeating and Unhealthy and Poor Diet:
Overeating contributes to weight
gain, particularly if the diet is rich in fat and sugar. Since epidemiological
studies have shown that high-fat diets contribute to weight increase. So eating a lot
of processed or fast food and unhealthy food that's heavy in fat and sugar, as
well as drinking a lot of alcohol, all contribute to obesity.
(2 Lack Of Physical Activity :
Physical inactivity and weight gain have
substantial connections in both sexes. As a result, lack of physical exercise
is another major factor associated with obesity. If you are not physically
active enough, you will not utilize the energy given by the food you eat, and
any excess energy will be stored as fat by the body. Especially if you have a
work requires you to sit at a desk for long periods of time or tend to unwind
by watching TV, surfing the internet, or playing computer games, and they
rarely exercise on a regular basis.
Genetics Reasons:
Hormones involved in fat management
are also affected by genetics. As a result, if one or both parents are fat, the
child is more likely to acquire obesity. Leptin deficiency, for example, is one
hereditary cause of obesity. Furthermore, in some diseases such as Bardet-Biedl
syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome, genes can directly cause obesity.
Genes, however, do not necessarily
predict future health. Overweight may be caused by both genetics and behavior.
Multiple genes may enhance one's propensity to obesity in some circumstances,
requiring extrinsic variables such as an ample food supply or insufficient
physical exercise.
Medical Issues:
In some cases,
underlying medical issues may play a role in weight gain. Where there are
certain diseases and drugs can lead to obesity. As in the following cases:
- Under-active thyroid gland
(hypothyroidism).
-Cushing
disease (hypercortisolism).
- Polycystic ovary syndrome.
- Medicines as in the case of antidepressants, schizophrenia,
epilepsy and diabetes, oral contraceptives and high blood pressure
medications and antihistamines.
Psychological reasons:
Emotions can affect eating patterns
for certain people. Many people overeat in response to negative feelings such
as boredom, sorrow, tension, or rage. While most overweight persons have no
more psychological issues than normal weight people, around 30% of people
seeking treatment for significant obesity struggle with binge eating.
Environmental and social concerns:
Obesity and environmental and social
issues are inextricably linked.
Lack of funds to purchase healthy meals
Lack of safe locations to walk or exercise.
Lack of environments that facilitates physical
exercise, such as fitness, parks, trails, and shopping malls.
What are the signs and symptoms of obesity?
Excess body fat is the most obvious
symptom of obesity, and an increase in weight is generally assessed by BMI.
Obesity is defined as a BMI of 30 or above, whereas overweight is determined as
a BMI between 25 and 30. Other common obesity symptoms are as follows:
- Sleeping
difficulty. Obesity is linked to sleep apnoea that causes sleepiness throughout
the day and not enough restorative sleep.
-Breath shortening.
-Sulfur (more than usual)
-Snoring
-Could not do simple bodily
activities
-skin problems; the appearance of
stretches and swelling and varicose veins in the bowel extremities, the skin
expands and darkens in some regions of the body (acanthosis Nigricans).
-Waist circumference is greater than
102 cm in men and 88 cm in women.
-Pains of Back and joint
-Impact psychological (negative
self-esteem, depression, shame, social isolation)
What are classes of obesity?
Obesity is
divided into rising BMI levels, which have progressively worse health effects.
Obesity levels based on BMI are as follows:
|
BMI |
CLASSIFICATION |
|
30.0 - 34.9
kg/m2 |
Class I |
|
35.0 - 39.9
kg/m2 |
Class II |
|
≥
40.0 kg/m2 |
Class III |
Furthermore, Obesity in class
III is subdivided into several categories as follow:
|
Obesity in class III |
|
|
BMI ≥ 35 |
severe obesity |
|
BMI of ≥ 40 |
morbid obesity |
|
BMI of ≥ 50 |
extreme obesity |
:
Morbid or extreme obesity is more
than a physical aesthetic concern. Yes, discrimination, social prejudice,
sadness, anxiety and poor self-esteem are definitely an issue, but the problem
is far more comprehensive. Overweight health and obesity (particularly morbid
or obesity of class 3) are a broad list of possible weight related health
concerns.
What are the potential risks of obesity?
Some obesity problems occur with
additional weight from the stress on the body such as high blood pressure,
congestive cardiac failure, sleeping apnea, breathlessness, nervous discomfort,
arthritic pain, back pain, heartburn, leg swelling, varices and physical
handicap.
Other potential risks o obesity are
caused by abnormal changes in the way our body works by extra body fat (adipose
tissue). These are examples:
-Diabetes of type 2.
- High blood pressure
(hypertension).
-High cholesterol and cardiac
illness
-Increased risk for several cancers.
-Heart attacks due to coronary heart
disease, heart failure, and stroke.
-Renal illness.
-Gout
-Asthma.
-Clots of Blood
-Polycystic ovarian syndrome and
infertility.
-Hepatic disease Fatty.
Sadly, this is
only a limited list of morbid obesity concerns... and the globe is worsening
the difficulties.
What's the right way of obesity treatment?
The objective
of obesity treatment is to achieve and maintain healthy weight. This improves
your health overall and reduces your chance of obesity-related problems. You
may need to engage with a medical team including your nutritionist, conduct counselor or obesity expert to help you understand the way you are eating and
changing your activities. But
generally there are mainly guidelines to contribute in obesity treatment as
follow:
- Dietary
Modification:
The
initial stage will be to examine your traditional drinking and eating patterns
to discover how much calories you usually eat and how you may decrease as well
as make better selections. Eat more healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables
and whole- grain carbs, to make your entire diet healthier. Strong protein
sources – such as beans, lentils, or soy – and lean meats should also be
stressed. Try to incorporate fish twice a week if you enjoy it. Add salt and
sugar to limit. Eat modest quantities of fats from healthy sources such as
olives, canola, and nut oils. Furthermore
must avoid high-carbon or full-fat diets.
-Training and activity:
An important component of obesity
therapy is increased physical activity or exercise. People with obesity need to
have moderate-intensity physical exercise for at least 150 minutes a week to
prevent more weight gain or to sustain low weight reduction.
- Behavior Modification:
Everyone has distinct weight
management barriers such as lack of exercise time or late-night food, a
behavior modification programs can help you modify your lifestyle and lose
weight and keep it away. To examine your present behaviors, it includes
analyzing what causes, stressors or situations have contributed to your
obesity.
- Using Of Weight-Loss Medication:
You
should never take it from yourself your doctor will evaluate your health
history and probable adverse effects before recommending a medicine for you.
Some weight reduction medicines may not be taken by pregnant women or by
persons who are taking certain drugs or have chronic illnesses. However, be aware, that the drug for losing weight is intended to
be taken together with changes in food, exercise and behavior rather than in
place. Our major aim is to enable you to keep to a low calorie diet by reducing
hunger and lack of signs of fullness that arise when attempting to reduce
weight.
- Participation in support groups:
Support
groups may provide you with comparable challenges with obesity that others have
faced which increases motivation and quest. For support groups in your region,
check with your doctor, local hospitals, or commercial weight reduction programs.
- Weight loss surgery:
if
necessary, for people suffering from extreme and morbid obesity.