What is Obesity?

Most people think that obesity goes no deeper than a less than fashionable look, but they are wrong. Obesity today is an epidemic, a disease spreading fast across both the industrialized world and emerging economies.

Obesity means having too much fat on your body. First and foremost, obesity puts a strain on joints and bones that have to sustain more weight than before, which leads to arthritis in the long run. The weight also tends to make people less active, which, in turn, means more weight is put on.

The lack of activity and high cholesterol brought by eating too much of the wrong kind of food impair the proper functioning of your heart and blood vessels. This results in high blood pressure, stroke and other blood and heart conditions. Excess weight also leads to apnea, the cessation of breathing during sleep.

However, obesity can be cured with patience and effort. As this diseases spreads over the land, so do the efforts for curing it increase. Talk to your physician if you are interested in getting rid of obesity and what other supplements can help you.

Recognizing obesity?

The textbook definition of obesity is a body mass index of 30 or above. The body mass index is a measure of a person’s weight scaled according to height, as developed by Belgian scientist Adolphe Quetelet in 1840. This index serves to show the amount of fat stored on the body, and the higher your BMI is, the worst is your exposure to certain diseases.

Physicians also warm that having a lot of fat stored around your waist increases the risk of developing diseases. Going beyond size 35 in women and size 40 in men means only trouble in the future.

Key Points

v     Obesity is associated with the international epidemic of type 2 diabetes and weight control is the key to prevention.

v     Some nations have made strenuous efforts over decades to curtail the rise of weight of their population (e.g. Sweden) with limited success. No one measure is likely to be effective, but will require a package of simultaneous developments and the necessary research carried out long-term to assess efficacy.

v     # In the treatment of the obese person, weight reduction trials require a follow-up of at least 12 months as short-term trials (e.g. 3-6 months) do not give guidance on long-term efficacy.

v     Low fat or 600kcal deficit diets are as effective as low calorie (1000-1600kcal) diets or very low calorie (<1000kcal) diets for long-term weight control, and reduce the blood lipids, blood glucose, blood pressure and the incidence of diabetes mellitus.

v     High-protein, high-fat, low carbohydrate diets (e.g. the Atkins diet) reduce weight effectively and do not cause elevation of lipids in the first 12 months, but the long-term effects of such diets are unknown.

v     Exercise produces benefits for weight reduction additional to diet, and behavioral therapy and family therapy in adults are beneficial.

v     # Drugs such as orlistat, sibutramine and metformin can reduce weight gain and prevent obesity complications, but need to be used as adjuncts to diet and exercise.

v     Surgery to reduce weight (bariatric surgery) effectively reduces weight and prevents obesity complications, but is best for those with severe obesity especially if associated with diabetes mellitus. (source)