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Obesity
Facts
Obesity is a health
problem that is currently on a steep incline in the western world.The
definition of obesity is "the accumulation of excess body fat". Many
people make the mistake of thinking that being obese and being
overweight are the same thing, however there is a difference between
the two states. When someone is overweight it means the person has an
excess amount of weight, but this includes muscle, bone water and fat.
The general rule is that a man that has over 20% body fat is classed as
obese, for a woman the rule is that she must have 30% body fat to be
classed as obese.
To
determine the level of obesity a scale called BMI is used. BMI stands
for Body Mass Index.
The
formula for working out BMI is the persons weight in Kilograms divided
by their Height in meters squared.
The
meaning of the results are as follows.
-
A person with less than 18.5kg/m2 is classed as underweight
-
A person with 25.0 - 29.9kg/m2 is classed as having normal weight.
-
A person with 30.0 to 39.9kg/m2 is classed as obese
-Whilst
a figure of 40kg/m2 identifies a person as being morbidly obese.
People
that are obese tend to suffer from several other conditions and
diseases. This is as a direct result of their unhealthy weight. Some of
the common health conditions that obese people usually suffer from in
no particular order include certain types of cancer, osteoarthritis of
the joints, heart disease, hypertension, gallstones, sleep apnea,
reproductive disorders and diabetes. Evidently obesity is a serious
condition and anyone suffering from it should speak to their doctor in
order to find out about prevention and treatment.
Lack
of activity, fast food, junk food, and certain disorders have
pinpointed as some of the causes of obesity. The most common forms of
treatment recommended by doctors include diet and exercise,a nd weight
loss medication, however this normally only works for people that are
mildly obese. Not everyone can lose weight using these methods some
people have to have surgery. The most common type of surgery is known
as gastric bypass.
Approximately
33% of Americans suffer from obesity and another 33% are overweight.
Research shows that obesity claims the lives of 300,000 people every
year. The sad thing is obesity is preventable, as a result alot of
research is being undertaken in order to understand obesity and stop
thousands of people dying unnecessarily.
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