With social media becoming such an integral part of our lives, people generally tend to equate obesity as an appearance problem. What they fail to realize is that more than just looks, obesity is a medical and health complication.
According to data, over 70 Million Adults in the United States suffer from obesity. The same data states that 90 Million Adults in the country are overweight. According to doctors, a Body Mass Index of 30 and above indicates that the person is overweight.
In this article, we look at why being obese and even overweight is bad for your health. We list down some health complications and diseases that you can attract because of obesity.
Obesity: Meaning and Definition
According to medical professionals, obesity is the accumulation of excessive body fat in one or more parts of your body. This is often the result of intaking more calories than your body requires or is able to burn.
Obesity is not something that can only be accumulated by eating. In fact, a lot depends on the genes when it comes to getting obese. People who are genetically more dormant in terms of their body metabolism are prone to getting obese.
Many people tend to believe that obesity can be cured cosmetically by going under the cosmetologist’s knife and cutting away all the extra fat from your body. However, that is something that is just cosmetic. To overcome obesity, you need a proper diet, regular exercises along a lot of mental toughness.
According to the World Health Organization, the following statistics on obesity should be noted-
- Nearly 2 Billion Adults on Planet Earth suffer from being Overweight. Of them, nearly 700 Million are clinically obese.
- 13% of the world’s entire adult population falls under the obesity bracket. This is true for every continent other than Africa and Asia.
- 40 million children below the age of 5 are obese by the global health authorities.
List of 5 Major Illnesses and Health Risks brought upon by Obesity
1. Type 2 Diabetes-
One of the major and probably the first health fallout of obesity is getting Type 2 Diabetes. In this condition, the sugar levels of your body increase beyond the permissible levels.
According to doctors, once you get diabetes, it cannot be reversed. You can only maintain and moderate the sugar levels with the help of regular medicines and insulin.
Type 2 Diabetes is harmful as it can lead to heart attacks, kidney failures, and more.
2. Heart Diseases-
The accumulation of fat in different parts of the body, especially the chest area can lead to heart complications. Fat can accumulate in the arteries and coronaries of the heart.
This can lead to blockages when the heart is unable to pump blood as the fat acts as an obstruction. People who suffer from obesity have less of the good cholesterol LDL and more of the bad one.
This coupled with diabetes can convert you into a heart patient that requires regular monitoring at all times. If you are not checking this, it can result in a full-blown stroke.
3. Liver Diseases-
The accumulation of fat on your liver is known by the medical term ‘Fatty Liver’. In this disease, small pockets of fat start crowding the surface of your liver.
As you know, the liver plays a vital role in the digestion of the human body. The fat deposits prevent the release of chemicals and liquids that break down food efficiently.
If untreated, this can erode the walls and linings of the liver and lead to Cirrhosis. You need to cut down on your weight and give up drinking alcohol to prevent this from happening.
4. Poor Mental Health and Depression-
Obesity can affect mental health and trigger depression in individuals. Apart from the mere fact that looking at yourself in the mirror might start getting difficult, you can start experiencing real-world discriminatory practices.
With all of us being so connected to social media these days, negative comments flooding the DMs are all it takes to become depressed.
Many health and advocacy groups have taken up this cause, especially among young adults, and are fighting to ensure that the stigma around being obese goes away.
5. Pregnancy Issues and Problems-
Most doctors are of the opinion that obesity can have a negative impact if you are looking to deliver a child and are pregnant. Studies have found that obese women develop a certain kind of resistance to insulin and start experiencing heightened levels of blood pressure.
All this can result in the child not getting a Normal delivery (a C-Section needs to be performed), or premature births of even the child being born with some defects.
This is why doctors are quick to sound an alarm and ask obese pregnant women to lose weight to help in reducing pregnancy complications.
The Bottom Line
It is important to ensure that the diet you are taking is sufficient for your body’s metabolism. If you have a high metabolism rate, you will be able to burn all the calories you are consuming daily. This prevents the accumulation of extra fat in the body.
Obesity is not irreversible. Sticking to a healthy diet, working out regularly, and controlling hunger urges can go a long way towards helping you reverse the same. If you have any other questions, you would like us to answer, let us know in the comments section below.
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