Obesity is a not-too nice disease that entails the body storing excess amount of fat above that which it ought to store, making one look quite copious, being one that both old and young could suffer from, it is the responsibility of all and sundry to have adequate knowledge of its mechanism and ways to prevent it so as not to suffer from it. Healthvim, haven seen the need for enlightenment about obesity, has thus decided to provide you with accurate information, sit back and enjoy the ride!!.
Obesity, as earlier said is an excess of fat in the human body making one to look copious, this is a not too good effect as it often leads to discrimination from people around, and as well prevent one from indulging in one's favourite sport such as football, guess you have not seen an obese footballer. The excess fat that is stored is quite harmful in the human system as it causes imbalance to the body system, making several other mechanisms to go wrong( these would be discussed later).
HOW TO KNOW THAT ONE IS OBESE??
obesity is actually checked on by calculating that which is known as BODY MASS INDEX(BMI), I would assume you have no idea about what that is, BMI is gotten by dividing one's weight which is measured in pounds by one's height which would have been measured in inches squared, and then the derived value is multiplied by 703, or if you could not get the measurements in the specified units, then you should measure your weight in kilograms and then divide by your height which would have been measured in metres squared. If BMI is above 30, then one is said to be obese, if less than 18.5 one is said to be underweight, that between 18.5 - 24.9 is said to be a normal weight, 25.0 - 29.9 is regarded as over weight then above 30 as earlier said is considered to be obese. But you should please note that BMI does not directly take measurement of body fat, as there are quite athletes who are muscular with a BMI of over 30 but they are not obese, other measured factors includes ratio of waist to hip size (WHR), waist to height ratio (WtHR).
WHAT COULD CAUSE IT!!
The mechanism is quite simple, when we eat, we take in calories and if you don't burn these calories probably through exercise, your body stores the excess as fat, hope you get the process now, so the basic cause is taking in more calories than you could actually burn though there are other causes which are outlined below;
1. UNHEALTHY DIET - eating food high in calories, fast food, meal devoid of fruits and vegetables, fried food such as French fries e.t.c would definitely lead to weight gain as they are quite high in their calories content and you might not be able to burn that large of an amount leading to their storage as fat in your body.
2. INHERITANCE - the gene known as fat-mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) which one could inherit from parents may have an effect on the storage of body fat, as well as where they are stored, they may as well affect by regulating ones appetite causing one to eat more. Many at times due to the same eating habit found among members of the same family as well as their indulgence in sport activity, which if low and poor, members of the family might all suffer from obesity making others to feel it is genetic though.
3. LACK OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES - poor and low indulgence in physical activities such as sports, or leading a sedentary lifestyle like more of sitting on a chair, pressing a keyboard or watching TV could lead to obesity, as this type of life style do not actually aid one in burning fat thereby leading to excess storage of them causing obesity. So you had better start hitting the gym!!!
So these are the basic causes of obesity, knowing fully well that it cuts across all age, but the chances of suffering from it increases as one gets older.
If all there was to obesity was just the excess fat, then they would be no big issue with it as some could be cool with that, but the thing is with obesity comes several other complications that are not friendly and these are discussed below;
SIDE-COMPLICATIONS
1. APNEA - This is a sleeping disorder, in which while sleeping, one would stop breathing involuntarily and then start breathing again, this has been found to be associated with those who suffers from obesity as it poses to be a disturbance to their sweet sleep.
2.OSTEOARTHRITIS - on our previous post on arthritis, we outlined that a likely cause of arthritis was being over-weightas this puts more stress on the weight-bearing joints. Obesity does this, and leads to the wear and tear of the cartilage covering the joint bone end, thereby making bone to rub against bone at the joint, this is quite painful and is known as osteoarthritis.
3.HEART DISEASES/STROKES - the excess fat that is stored in the body might be stored in the blood vessels leading to high blood pressure as well as an abnormal cholesterol level which could lead to some heart diseases and strokes as well.
4.CANCER - now I guess you are scared, but the fact is obesity could trigger some cancerous cells such as cancer of the gall bladder, ovary, breast, cervix, uterus e.t.c .
5.DIABETES - it affects the body's usage of insulin which could lead to type 2 diabetes.
Knowing about these dangerous side complications, how then could one prevent it??, quite easy I tell you, just read below.
PREVENTION
I guess by now you are quite anxious about effective ways to prevent obesity, we would gladly do the honors of telling you.
1.EXERCISE REGULARLY - you should actually get involved in some physical activities that would bring sweat from you, as these would help burn excess fat in your body.
2.EAT HEALTHY MEAL- ensure your meal is not too high in its calories content, less of snacks and junk food, some fruits and vegetables should fit in perfectly well.
3. And we would advise you monitor your weight regularly by measuring it at least once a week, this would not only help you keep track of the progress which you would have made but as well as motivate you to be consistent with your plans.
#HEALTHVIM