The Health Danger Linked With Obesity.
I am very particular about health, wellness, and weight balance, the gym is another place where I spend most of my time asides from my room and the lecture room, I am trying to get my siblings to love the gym as well, but my lazy sister @oluwatobiloba would hit the gym one week and the following week she is claiming to be too busy to head to the gym (I hope she doesn't see this). Anyways, I have learned that there are several other ways to keep/maintain a healthy weight aside from going to the gym, so I allow her to do her thing, as long as she is able to maintain a healthy weight, then we are good to go.
Anyways, let's get to the topic of the day, in this post, we will be speaking about obesity and every of its health consequences and I hope that you pick a thing or two from this writing of mine.
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**Obesity/Overweight is an abnormal accumulation of excessive fat in the body, measured with BMI (body max index), 25 is considered overweight while 30 is considered obese. Issue of obesity has become a serious epidemic issue, recording death cases of more than 4 million on a yearly note.
There is a consistent increase in the number of overweight adults and children. Obesity is only one side of the serious problems caused as a result of malnutrition, according to this published research, today we have people who are more obese than those who are underweight in regions except sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The funny thing about obesity, is that, it is not determined based on how much you have or earn as a payment salary, I say this because it was once considered an issue only in high-income countries, but with what we have now, overweight and obesity are now increasing greatly in high-income countries, particularly in urban-based setting.
Some health risks of overweight/obesity
Type 2 diabetes: This disease comes up when the blood glucose/blood sugar gets really high. About 80% of people with type 2 diabetes are actually known to be overweight or have obesity, as time goes on, high blood glucose could lead to medical complications such as; stroke, eye problems, kidney disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, and other health-related issues. If you stand a chance of having type 2 diabetes, and you lose about 5 percent of your body weight plus exercising constantly, it may prevent or delay the possibility of developing type 2 diabetes.
Fatty liver diseases: This disease entails a build-up of fat in the liver. The disease could lead to severe liver damage, cirrhosis, or even liver failure.
Heart disease: Heart disease is a term that is used in the description of different problems that may affect your heart. At a point when you have heart disease, it may also contribute to the occurrence of other health issues like; heart attack, heart failure, sudden cardiac death, or an abnormal heart rhythm.
Weight loss could reduce your chances of reducing the available risk factors for the development of heart disease.
Metabolic syndrome:This is a group of conditions that places the victims at risk of developing health issues like; high blood pressure, excessive fat buildup around the waist, and high triglyceride in the blood.
High blood pressure: Another name for high blood pressure is hypertension, this condition allows blood to flow through your blood vessel with a force that I stronger than usual. High blood pressure is really dangerous because it can restrain your heart, damage blood vessels and then increase your chances of getting a stroke, heart attack, kidney disease and even lead to an eventual case of death.
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Stroke: Stroke happens when the supply of blood to the brain is cut off suddenly, this would create a blockage or blood vessel bursting to the neck or to the brain. A stroke is deadly as it can damage brain tissue and make the victim find it difficult to speak or move certain body parts. High blood pressure is usually the leading cause of stroke.
Osteoarthritis: Osteoarthritis is a long-lasting and common health condition that creates swelling, pain, and reduced motion in the joints. Being obese/overweight may increase the chance of having osteoarthritis, which happens through the addition of extra pressure on the joints as well as the cartilage.
Sleep apnea: This is a popular sleep disorder, where the victim is usually unable to breathe appropriately while sleeping. It is possible that breathing completely stops for a short period, an untreated case of sleep apnea has the ability to increase your chances of developing other health issues like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Kidney disease: When there is kidney disease, it translates to mean the kidneys are damaged and are unable to filter blood the way they should, obesity has the ability to raise the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.
Gallbladder diseases: Obesity and overweight could increase the chances of victims getting gallbladder diseases like; gallstones and cholecystitis. The imbalance in substances that contribute to bile cause gallstones, and gallstones may begin to form if bile contains excessive cholesterol.
Certain cancers: Being Overweight has the ability to increase a human's chances of developing some form of cancer. Every case of cancer involves the ability of the body cells to divide without stopping and spreading to other surrounding tissues.
Pregnancy difficulty: Obesity and overweight raise the risk of health problems that could arise during pregnancy. When pregnant women are obese or overweight, they stand a higher chance of;
- Having preclampsia.
- Having gestational diabetes.
- The need for a cesarean section.
- A c-section which takes time.
Victims of overweight/obesity also develop mental health problems like depression, people who deal with issues of obesity may get stigmatized by others, therefore leading to feelings of shame, guilt, and rejection that would further worsen their mental health state.
Having an understanding of what obesity could cause, I am certain we do not want to get obese (if we are not already), and if we are, we should look for ways to get out of it (as much as we can). It is wise for us to check through the possible causes of being overweight quickly.
Several cases of obesity are genetic, but there are other contributing factors that lead to the birth of obesity. Obesity can be caused by behavioral, metabolic, and hormonal influences on body weight, where the body stores excessive calories in form of fat.
The fast-rising case of jobs involving less physical activity makes the accumulation of fat very possible.
Unhealthy eating, and consuming food and drinks with high levels of calories could as well contribute to the occurrence of obesity.
Pregnancy is another way people get obese, some women gain so much weight during pregnancy that they find it difficult to lose even after some time.
Stress and the absence of adequate sleep could contribute to obesity.
Medications, lifestyle changes, and surgery are treatment options for obesity. It is usually when medications and lifestyle changes fail to yield results that obese people settle for surgery as a possible treatment option. The types of weight loss surgery are;
- Gastric sleeve surgery.
- Gastric bypass surgery.
- Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB).
- Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch.
If you are not obese already, try to prevent obesity by;
Getting engaged in simple exercises like regular walking, swimming or even biking.
Eating properly by choosing to eat very healthy meals, eat more vegetables, fruits, lean protein and whole grains.
Also try to consume high fat and high calorie foods.
References.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/symptoms-causes/syc-20375742
https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/nutritionscience/chapter/7c-risks-of-overweight-underweight/
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/effects/index.html
https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/ss/slideshow-obesity-health-problems
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-consequences/health-effects/
https://www.healthline.com/health/obesity#treatment
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/adult-overweight-obesity/health-risks