Being overweight and obesity is a rising concern all over the world. It is the excessive accumulation of fats that cause health impairment. One of the parameters used to measure the body fat is BMI (body mass index) this is given by dividing the weight by the square of height. This is not a very accurate method because a person with high muscular mass can also have high BMI. Regardless it is still used as it provides a useful interpretation for most people.
A better way to estimate the body fat is by measuring the waist circumference. Men with a waist circumference more than 94 cm. Women with waist circumference of more than 80 cm are likely to develop obesity related health problems. A BMI of 18.5- 24.9 indicates a healthy weight, 25-29.9 indicates overweight, 30-39.9 means obese and 40 or above indicates severely obese.
Causes of obesity
Obesity results because the accumulation is more than expenditure. When a person consumes more food than he expels due to moving little. If you consume more energy in the form of fats and sugar mainly. Don’t give out this energy in the form of physical activity this excess energy stores fat.
The caloric needs for a man and woman vary, an average man requires about 2500 calories and woman about 2000 calories a day. Main cause of obesity is poor diet, high consumption of processed or fast food, drinking a lot of alcohol, eating large portions, drinking a lot of sugary drinks.
Lack of physical activity, another main reason is because most people tend to lead a sedentary lifestyle. Some rare causes can be like hypothyroidism, cushings syndrome, certain medication like corticosteroids some antidepressants and etc.
Management of obesity
The main way to tackle obesity is proper diet and increased physical activity.
Diet
It is recommended to be on a calorie deficit 600 calories a day to lose weight safely. the caloric needs vary between people. The best way to go about this is to consume a lot of proteins, reduce the consumption of fats and sugar, incorporate lots of fruits and vegetables.
Exercise
To burn calories, you would also need to include exercise in your plan to reduce weight. Find an activity that you love to do, this could be walking, swimming, cycling, dancing and etc. To keep you motivated you can do it with your partner or friends.
Although in most cases not advised there are medications that can be used, the safest one is or list at. Another option is weight loss surgery. In Brisbane weight loss surgery is done in many centres.
Problems caused by obesity
Being overweight can cause a lot of problems and increase the risk of many health condition. Although symptom-less it can cause day to day problems like breathlessness, increased sweating, snoring, feeling very tired, joint and back pain and low self-esteem.
Other serious health risks are increased tendency to develop diabetes mellitus 2, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, likelihood of developing cardiovascular diseases, some types of cancers, sleep apnoea and etc.
