Obesity
Obesity and being overweight is not the same
thing. People who are obese have a great amount of fat and
are at risk for serious health problems. In order to determine
if a person is obese, Doctors use a measurement called a body
mass index (BMI) (? Link “Find out your BMI here”).
This BMI is a relation between the person’s height and
mass. A person with a BMI in the 95th percentile will be considered
overweight. A BMI between the 85th and 95th percentile generally
means that the person is at risk for being overweight. For
people who are extremely overweight, namely obese, will exceed
the 95th percentile. The formula is flawed when measuring
very muscular people. These people may score in the risk related
percentiles but only due to a large amount of muscle and not
fat. Consult your doctor to verify the exact results from
BMI.
What Causes Obesity?
People gain weight when the body takes in more calories than
it burns off. Those extra calories are stored as fat. The
amount of weight gain that leads to obesity doesn't happen
in a few weeks or months. Because being obese is more than
just being a few pounds overweight, people who are obese have
usually been getting more calories than they need for years.
The Causes:
When the body takes in more calories than it burns off it
will store the extra calories as fat and begin to gain weight.
Obesity will not result from weeks or even months but rather
years of an unhealthy diet. People who are obese have been
taking in more than an acceptable amount of calories for years.
Obesity can result from gene structure. Genes can tell your
body how fast it will metabolize food. Genes may play a significant
role in carrying obesity through families, however culture
and dietary habits play a much larger role. Obesity can run
in families simply due to a family’s customs and habits
regarding food. Most cases of obesity arise due to both genetics
and familial traditions and culture.
Obesity is also a cause of the general culture. People are
much less active now because of television, computers, and
video games, which prevent simply going outside to fill any
spare time.
Health Risks
Being obese can cause serious complications such as intestinal
disease, renal failure, strokes, heart attacks, respiratory
diseases etc. Obesity can also create a decrease in overall
hygiene because a person will find it more difficult to operate
in a range of motions. Obese people can also be at risk of
death. Doctors will often suggest that people solve obesity
through an array of proper diet and regular exercise. In life-threatening
cases of obesity, some people turn to surgery dubbed bariatric
surgery in order to quickly lose weight. Find out more about
bariatric procedures here(? link).
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