Obesity: A Medical Condition that Plagues the World

Obesity is a medical condition in which the body is storing excessive bodily fat that threatens the overall health of any person. An obese person is different from the overweight person because obesity distinctly describes excessive bodily fat. Being overweight on the other hand, can mean excessive weight due to high fat percentage with high muscle mass, increased water weight or even heavy bone mass. Either way, both conditions can seriously cause detrimental health effects to the body.

Obesity is an imbalance between caloric intake and caloric expenditure. This simply means that a person who eats excessive foods high in calories but does not have any physical activity to balance that out can develop into an obese person in no time. The excess fats will change the hormonal balance and functions of the body, take up the compartments intended for vital organs, expand the skin and of course increase the risk of life threatening diseases.

Obesity Statistics

According to the World Health Organization, obesity is one of the leading causes of death in many nations. People die due to the conditions brought about by excessive body fat. In 2005, approximately 1.6 billion people around the world are overweight, with 400 million adults are obese. If the trend last 2005 continues towards 2015, by then 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and 700 million will be morbidly obese.

In the United States alone, approximately 154.7 million of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight. This is according to the research done by the American Heart Association. Out of the 154.7 million who are overweight, 78.4 million are considered medically obese. What is maddening is that not only adults are obese in this generation but more and more children are becoming obese as well. Children as young as 2 years old in the United States are either overweight or obese. In fact, 23.9 million children from 2 to 19 years old are overweight, with 12.7 million children are obese.

Lifestyle Diseases from Obese Condition

Obesity can increase different health risks that can be detrimental to one’s health. Serious forms of diseases can easily be developed once a person is obese. Some of these diseases are coronary artery disease, hypertension, cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, respiratory problems, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis and gynaecological problems. Without proper medical interventions, these conditions can easily cause premature death.

A Healthy Weight

Losing weight is an urgent need for people who are overweight or obese. Even taking off a few pounds can decrease the risk of premature death significantly. Obesity treatments are geared towards decreasing caloric intake and increasing activities to burn ingested calories. The treatment of obesity will cover dietary changes, lifestyle changes by increasing physical activity, behavioural modification, obesity medications and even surgery.

It takes extreme commitment to change and become healthy. The effort increases for those who are obese. Obese persons need all the help they can get to lose weight. Diet and exercise may not be enough. The use of approved weight loss medications and even surgery may be the only answers to help the obese person lose excess fats. Using medications or undergoing surgery is not “cheating” or the easy way out. The medical community treats obesity as a disease like diabetes or coronary artery disease that needs immediate medical intervention.

Obesity: A Medical Condition that Plagues the World