OBESITY

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese. The issue has grown to epidemic proportions, with over 4 million people dying each year as a result of being overweight or obese in 2017 according to the global burden of disease. 

Rates of overweight and obesity continue to grow in adults and children. From 1975 to 2016, the prevalence of overweight or obese children and adolescents aged 5–19 years increased more than four-fold from 4% to 18% globally. Obesity is one side of the double burden of malnutrition, and today more people are obese than underweight in every region except sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Once considered a problem only in high-income countries, overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings. The vast majority of overweight or obese children live in developing countries, where the rate of increase has been more than 30% higher than that of developed countries.

Complications of Obesity

Heart disease and strokes

Obesity makes you more likely to have high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels, which are risk factors for heart disease and strokes.

Type 2 diabetes

Increased dehydration, Frequent urination, Increased hunger, Unintended weight loss, Fatigue, Unclear vision, Slow-healing sores, Frequent infections

Certain cancers:

Research shows that excess body fat increases your risk for several cancers, including colorectal, post-menopausal breast, uterine, esophageal, kidney and pancreatic cancers. What’s less clear is exactly how being obese increases that risk.

Digestive problems

The human digestive system is a complex system made up of several organs all working in harmony. A digestive disorder or disease occurs when there is an improper functioning of one or more of these organs. Many digestive diseases can be traced back to obesity. In fact, obese people are at a particularly high risk of developing digestive disorders such as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) and stomach cancer.

Sleep apnea

In adults, the most common cause of obstructive sleep apnea is excess weight and obesity, which is associated with the soft tissue of the mouth and throat. During sleep, when throat and tongue muscles are more relaxed, this soft tissue can cause the airway to become blocked.

More than half of people with obstructive sleep apnea are either overweight or BMI, of 25-29.9) or obese (BMI of 30.0 or above).

A 10% weight gain raises your risk of OSA by six times, though the effect goes down after age 60.

Osteoarthritis

“The increase in the prevalence of OA is directly attributable to the rise in obesity,” he says. Being just 10 pounds overweight puts an extra 15 to 50 pounds of pressure on your knees. This makes it more likely to you’ll develop osteoarthritis (OA) or make the disease worse if you already have it.

Severe COVID-19 symptoms

In a study of COVID-19 cases in patients aged 18 years and younger, having obesity was associated with a 3.07 times higher risk of hospitalization and a 1.42 times higher risk of severe illness (intensive care unit admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, or death) when hospitalized.

PREVENT FROM OBESITY

The risks of obesity needs to be prevented. This can be done by adopting

HEALTHY EATING HABITS

DOING SOME PHYSICAL EXERCISE REGULARLY

AVOIDING STRESS

CONCLUSION

Hopefully after this activity you are more aware of the affects of obesity.  Many people do not realize how damaging obesity can be to the body and for your overall health.  Obesity is something that is increasingly on the rise today and will continue to rise unless we do something about it like informing people of how bad it really is and encouraging people to live a health-enhancing lifestyle.  A healthy diet and exercising two to three times a week is key to not becoming obese.  Let’s change the trend of obesity by living healthy lives and building towards a healthy nation.