What is Obesity?
Obesity is more than just carrying excess fat around your body. It is that and more, often causing diseases which can cut your life expectancy short, such as heart disease and other vascular illnesses, or diabetes, or a host of other illnesses which occur when the body is subjected to such additional stress and strains over a long period of time. Government statistics indicate that 24% of women and 23% of men are considered to be Obese in the UK, with around 1:3 children between 2 years and 15 years of age also falling into the Obese category. Of this figure, 18% are girls, with slightly more Obese boys at 19%. This is a rising statistic, with predictions that levels of obesity will reach 6.6 million men and 6 million women by 2010.
Some people are apple-shaped and some are described as being pear-shaped. This relates to where the excess fat in your body is actually distributed. Studies have shown that people who carry the majority of their excess weight on the abdomens are more prone to vascular deficiencies such as arthrosclerosis which is caused by a build-up of hardened fatty plaque from cholesterol deposits inside the arteries.
To measure whether weight is within a healthy range or not the body mass index is measured. More commonly known as your BMI, it gives an indication of how much overweight you are by a mathematical ratio comparing height in relation to weight. To make BMI reading easy, there are many BMI calculators you can use but, if you do not have access to a calculator, to work out your BMI, all you need to do is to divide your weight in kg by the square of your height in metres [height x height = square of height]. BMI within normal range is between 18.5kg/m2 and 25 kg/m2. A BMI of between 25 and 30 indicates overweight. However, if your BMI is more than 30 you are considered to be Obese. With a BMI higher than 40 you are regarded as morbidly Obese, sufficiently Obese to be cause for concern.
Obesity can cause all sorts of insidious medical and psychological problems, such as low self-esteem anxiety and depression. It can lead to problems moving the Obese body around, so you are likely to have difficulties with walking and running is almost impossible with pain in the knees and small of the back. You could have difficulties breathing and an increase in sweating. Acne is more profound and, a bit more seriously, such things as gallstones are likely to occur as a direct result of obesity. You could also suffer from an increased cholesterol level and high blood pressure and be at a much increased risk of cardiovascular disease such as a stroke or a heart attack.
