Why Obesity Is A Health Risk?

Obesity;

            What do you understand by the word obesity? Obesity is an excessive accumulation of body fat. Generally fat should constitute about 20-27% of body tissue in women and about 15-22% in men.

               The World Health Organization estimates that 400 million people worldwide are obese and approximately 1.6 billion people are overweight, including 20 million children under age of 5 years. Americans are the most obese people in the world, nearly 66% of adult U.S population is overweight and about 32% is obese.

Causes of obesity;

Obesity cause many diseases and deaths all over the world. By controlling the diet one can manage the problem of obesity. Obesity could by caused by many factors such as.

1-Genetic susceptibility

2-Intake of high fat foods

3-Increased soda consumption

4-Non-availability of healthful foods

5-Medical reasons

6-Increased use of medications that can cause weight gain

7-Psychiatric illness

Low level of physical activity

8-Gender (generally women tend to be more obese as compared to men)

Health risks of obesity;

           As we all know that obesity can cause many diseases, or it may increase the risk of getting some diseases as, 

1-Heart disease

2-Diabetes

3-Respiratory problems

4-Problems related to sleep

5-Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)

6-High levels of cholesterol

7-Hypertension

8-Psychological distress

9-Cancers (endometrial, breast, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, kidney and colon) it is estimated that overweight and obesity may account for 14% of all deaths from cancers.

Obesity in Children;

As I have explained earlier that obesity is becoming a worldwide problem among children also. In United States, nearly 37% of children are obese or overweight. While this ratio is 20% for Europe and 10% in China.

            As with obesity in adults there are many factors leading to obesity most important are the Changing diet, genetic susceptibility and decreasing physical activity.

Obesity in Older age;

            Nearly 70 percent of adults over age 60 are overweight or obese. It increases the risk of diabetes and many other diseases discussed earlier in the risk factors of obesity.

Treatment of obesity;

         

         Treatments used to treat obesity are,

1-Lifestyle interventions

2-Behavioral change

3-Dietary changes

4-Prescription weight-loss medications

5-Weight-loss surgery

6-Exercise and activity

7-

Preventing weight regain after obesity treatment;

You may always have to maintain your weight after getting the treatment. One of the best ways to prevent regaining the weight you've lost is getting regular physical activity. You also have to control your diet and eating habits.

Everyone should definitely take some steps to reduce the chance of being over-weight such as, use of low fat diet, being engaged in some physical activity like going to walk or some exercise, following an appropriate diet plan. All these things can help us to maintain our weight and in turn to become safe from many other diseases.