What is obesity ?

What is obesity ?

Obesity  is the heavy accumulation of fat in your body to such a degree that it rapidly increases your risk of diseases that can damage your health and knock years off your life, such as heart disease and diabetes.

The fat may be equally distributed around the body or concentrated on the stomach (apple-shaped) or the hips and thighs (pear-shaped).

BMI is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters (kg/m2

For medical purposes, the body mass index (BMI) is used to determine if your weight is in the healthy range.

Doctors use BMI because it compares your weight against your height.

• You are in the normal range if your BMI is between 18.5 and 25 (kg/m²).
• You are overweight if your BMI is between 25 and 30.
• You are obese if your BMI is 30 or higher.
• You are morbidly obese if your BMI is 40 or higher

BMI for Women

BMI for Men

In recent years, the number of overweight people in industrialized countries has increased significantly, so much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) has called obesity an epidemic. In the United States, over 65% of the adult population is overweight. In Canada, about 40% to 60% of adults have a weight problem.

People who are obese are at a much higher risk for serious medical conditions such as high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, gallbladder disease, and different cancers than people who have a healthy weight.

Causes of Obesity

Dieting and physical exercise are the mainstays of treatment for obesity. Moreover, it is important to improve diet quality by reducing the consumption of energy-dense foods such as those high in fat and sugars, and by increasing the intake of dietary fiber. To supplement this, or in case of failure, anti-obesity drugs may be taken to reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption. In severe cases, surgery is performed or an intragastric balloon is placed to reduce stomach volume and/or bowel length, leading to earlier satiation and reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food.

Obesity occurs when your body consumes more calories than it burns. In the past, many people thought that obesity was simply caused by overeating and under-exercising, resulting from a lack of will power and self-control. Although these are significant contributing factors, doctors recognize that obesity is a complex medical problem that involves genetic, environmental, behavioural, and social factors. All these factors play a role in determining a person's weight.

Recent research shows that in some cases, certain genetic factors may cause the changes in appetite and fat metabolism that lead to obesity. For a person who is genetically prone to weight gain (e.g., has a lower metabolism) and who leads an inactive and unhealthy lifestyle, the risk of becoming obese is high.

Although a person's genetic makeup may contribute to obesity, it's not the primary cause. Environmental and behavioural factors have a greater influence - consuming excess calories from high-fat foods and doing little or no daily physical activity over the long run will lead to weight gain. Psychological factors may also foster obesity. Low self-esteem, guilt, emotional stress, or trauma can lead to overeating as a means to cope with the problem.

The health risks associated with obesity include:

• breathing disorders (e.g., sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• certain types of cancers (e.g., prostate and bowel cancer in men, breast and uterine cancer in women)
• coronary artery (heart) disease
• depression
• diabetes
• gallbladder or liver disease
• gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• high blood pressure
• high cholesterol
• joint disease (e.g., osteoarthritis)
• stroke are obese
• Erectile dysfuction (ED)

People who may have the symptoms of the medical conditions mentioned above. High blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, breathing problems, and joint pain (in the knees or lower back) are common. The more obese a person is, the more likely they are to have medical problems related to obesity.

Aside from the medical complications, obesity is also linked to psychosocial problems such as low self-esteem, discrimination, difficulty finding employment, and reduced quality of life.

Obesity normally, the brain produces neurotransmitters (chemicals facilitating intercellular communication) called endocannabinoids that send signals to control appetite. Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) researchers at the University of Calgary found that in the absence of food, a stress response temporarily causes brain re-wiring.

This re-wiring may impair the endocannabinoids` ability to regulate food intake and contribute to increased food drive, the journal Neuron reports.

Obesity in America

America faces an obesity epidemic. 68% of adults and nearly one-third of children are considered at least overweight.

Scary Childhood Obesity Facts:

* 8 out of 10 children who are overweight at age 10-15 will be obese as adults

* In 1980, 5% of children ages 2-5 were obese; by 2008 10.4% of children in that age group were obese

* In 1980 6.5% of children age 6-11 were obese; by 2008 19.6% of children in that age group were obese.

* 5% of children age 12-18 were obese in 1980, but by 2008 that percentage had nearly quadrupled to 18% of children.

Obesity statistics

During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25% or more; 12 of these states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of 30% or more.

How Obesity Affects Mental and Emotional Health

Obesity research shows that being overweight is connected to mental health and body image issues, and other unhealthy tendencies. But, is being underweight worse?

Being overweight or underweight affects emotional health in several different ways. In fact, the mental health effects of obesity can be as damaging as the physical effects, according to recent obesity research.

The emotional and mental health issues caused by being overweight include social discrimination, low self-esteem, and even thoughts of ending life. However, research shows that being underweight can have even worse mental health effects. Here's a summary of the emotional, mental, and social effects of being overweight and underweight...

·              Obese People Are More Prone to Depression and Anxiety

·           
                 Overweight People Are Seen as Lacking in Willpower

·             
                   Underweight People Are More Likely to be Depressed

  

·              

U.S. Obesity Trends

Obesity in the United States has been increasingly cited as a major health issue in recent decades. While many industrialized countries have experienced similar increases, obesity rates in the United States are the highest in the world with 74.6% of Americans being overweight or obese.Estimates have steadily increased, from 19.4% in 1997, 24.5% in 2004 to 26.6% in 2007, to 33.8% (adults) and 17% (children) in 2008.

The direct medical cost of obesity and indirect economic loss to obesity has been estimated to be as high as $51.64 billion and $99.2 billion in 1995, respectively;this rose to $61 billion and $117 billion in 2000. Researchers for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and RTI International estimate that in 2003, obesity-attributable medical expenditures reached $75 billion.




Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity statistics in the United States have caught the attention of every aspect of our nation recently. Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise. 

Over the past three decades, the childhood obesity rate has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents aged 12-19 years, and it has more than tripled for children aged 6-11 years. At present, approximately nine million children over 6 years of age are considered obese. Trends in childhood and youth obesity mirror a similar profound increase over the same approximate period in U.S. adults as well as a concurrent rise internationally, in both developed and developing countries. 


TREATMENT FOR OBESITY:

Dieting and physical exercise are the mainstays of treatment for obesity. Moreover, it is important to improve diet quality by reducing the consumption of energy-dense foods such as those high in fat and sugars, and by increasing the intake of dietary fiber. To supplement this, or in case of failure, anti-obesity drugs may be taken to reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption. In severe cases, surgery is performed or an intragastric balloon is placed to reduce stomach volume and/or bowel length, leading to earlier satiation and reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food