Obesity or overweight may increase the risk of many health problems, including certain cancers, bone and joint disease, heart disease, and diabetes. If you are expecting, excess weight may lead to both short and long term health problems for you and your baby. This shows that obesity should be considered as a serious, chronic disease and that can have a negative effect on many systems in your body. Reaching and maintaining a normal weight may help you and your children stay healthier as you grow older.
Overweight is excess of fat storage rather than weight. Women with more than 30% total body fat and men with more than 25% of total body fat are considered obese. There are many ways to classify obesity. For instance, it can be divided into: simple, secondary and drug-induced obesity in accordance with endocrine and pathogen of the metabolic disease. And as I said before this health problem can be the door to a lot of life threatening conditions.
In the US, 35% of women and 31% of men are considered seriously overweight, while 15% of children between ages of 6 and 19 are overweight. The causes of overweight are complex. How your body uses energy, lifestyle and genetics are some of the interrelated factors.
Health Effects
Here are some of the health effects associated with obesity:
Heart Disease. Atherosclerosis or in other words hardening of the arteries is present 10 times more often in obese people compared to those who maintain a healthy weight. Coronary artery disease is also very common as fatty deposits build up in arteries that supply the heart. Narrowed arteries and reduced blood flow to the heart can cause angina, a heart attack or stroke.
Diabetes. The major cause of type 2 diabetes is obesity. This type of diabetes often begins in adulthood, but nowadays it can begin in childhood too. It can cause resistance to insulin (the hormone that regulates blood sugar) and when that happens the blood sugar becomes elevated.
Cancer. Women who are obese have an increased risk for a variety of cancers including uterus, gallbladder, colon and breast cancer, while overweight women have a higher risk of prostate and colon cancer.
Psycho-social effects. Overweight girls and boys are often blamed for their condition and may be considered to be weak-willed and lazy. It is not uncommon for overweight people to have fewer or no romantic relationships as well as lover incomes. Disapproval of such people may progress to torment, discrimination and bias.
