Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increate health problems.
Body Mass Index, a measurement which compare weight and height, defines people as overweight when their BMI is between 25kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2, and obese when it is greater than 30 kg/m2.
Obesity is considered as a health risk due to the fact that it increases the risk of developing a variety of diseases such as, high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties, cancer, including cancer of the uterus, cervix, ovaries, breast, colon, rectum and prostate cancer, and osteoarthritis.
Signs and symptoms of obesity:
Symptoms associated with obesity can include:
- Difficulty sleeping
- Snoring
- Sleep apnea
- Pain in your back or joints
- Excessive sweating
- Always feeling hot
- Rashes or infection in folds of your skin
- Feeling out of breath with minor exertion
- Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
- Depression
Causes of Obesity
Obesity occurs mainly when the intake of calories exceeds the amount of energy burnt through daily activity and exercise. The body then stores these excess calories as fat. Various factors can contribute to the development of obesity, the most important of which include an unhealthy diet and general eating habits, combined with low activity levels. Genetic factors are also believed to contribute to the development of obesity. Your genetic make-up can affect how efficiently your body converts food into energy, the amount of body fat you store and how that fat is distributed in the body. Additionally, obesity runs in families, although this can be associated with lifestyle as much as genetic inheritance. Age is also a contributing factor, due to hormonal changes associated with the ageing process as well as a tendency towards a decrease in activity.