What is obesity?

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has

accumulated to an extent that it may have a negative effect on health. A person who
is considered obese can be known by calculating body mass index (BMI). BMI can be
calculated by dividing a person's weight by the square of the person's height. BMI is
usually expressed in kilograms of weight per metre squared of height. For those who
BMI is up to 18.5 is considered as underweight; 18.5-25 is normal weight; 25-30 is
overweight; and 30 above is already suffer obesity. However, obesity can be
classified into 3 which is class 1,2 and 3 based on this table.

There are a lot of factors that cause obesity. First of all, the factor is calories.The
energy value of food is measured in units called calories. The average physically
active man needs about 2,500 calories a day to maintain a healthy weight, and the
average physically active woman needs about 2,000 calories a day. This amount of
calories may sound high, but it can be easy to reach if you eat certain types of food.
For example, eating a large takeaway hamburger, fries and a milkshake can total
1,500 calories – and that's just one meal. When we eat and drink more calories
than we use up, our bodies store the excess as body fat. If this continues over time
we may put on weight. Then the problem is that many people aren't physically active,
so lots of the calories they consume end up being stored in their body as fat.

Then, the next factor is poor diet. Obesity doesn't happen overnight. It develops
gradually over time, as a result of poor diet and lifestyle choices, such as:
eating large amounts of processed or fast food – that's high in fat and sugar
drinking too much alcohol – alcohol contains a lot of calories, and people who drink
heavily are often overweight
eating out a lot – you may be tempted to also have a starter or dessert in a
restaurant, and the food can be higher in fat and sugar
drinking too many sugary drinks – including soft drinks and fruit juice
comfort eating – if you have low self-esteem or feel depressed, you may eat to make
yourself feel better
Furthermore, lack of physical activity is another important factor related to obesity.
Many people have jobs that involve sitting at a desk for most of the day. They also rely
on their cars, rather than walking or cycling.For relaxation, many people tend to watch
TV, browse the internet or play computer games, and rarely take regular exercise.If
you're not active enough, you don't use the energy provided by the food you eat, and
the extra energy you consume is stored by the body as fat. The Department of Health
recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes (two-and-a-half hours) of
moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as cycling or fast walking, every week. This
doesn’t need to be done all in one go, but can be broken down into smaller periods. For
example, you could exercise for 30 minutes a day for five days a week. If you're obese
and trying to lose weight, you may need to do more exercise than this. It may help to
start off slowly and gradually increase the amount of exercise you do each week.
Obesity can be also cause by having a strong genetic component. Children of obese
parents are much more likely to become obese than children of lean parents.That
doesn’t mean that obesity is completely predetermined. What you eat can have a major
effect on which genes are expressed and which are not.Non-industrialized societies
rapidly become obese when they start eating a typical Western diet. Their genes didn't
change, but the environment and the signals they sent to their genes did.Put simply,
genetic components do affect your susceptibility to gain weight.
Obesity brings a lot of negative impacts especially in health risks. Firstly, the impact
is high blood pressure. So, what is high blood pressure? Every time your heart beats, it
pumps blood through your arteries to the rest of your body. Blood pressure is how hard
your blood pushes against the walls of your arteries. High blood pressure (hypertension)
usually has no symptoms, but it may cause serious problems, such as heart disease,
stroke, and kidney failure. A blood pressure of 120/80 mm Hg (often referred to as "120
over 80") is considered normal. Every blood pressure that are not in that range is
considered that you have high blood pressure. High blood pressure is linked to
overweight and obesity in several ways. Having a large body size may increase blood
pressure because your heart needs to pump harder to supply blood to all your cells.
Excess fat may also damage your kidneys, which help regulate blood pressure.
In addition, obesity will cause heart disease. The most common type of problem
happens when a blood vessel that carries blood to the heart becomes hard and narrow.
This may keep the heart from getting all the blood it needs. Other problems may affect
how well the heart pumps. If you have heart disease, you may suffer from a heart attack,
heart failure, sudden cardiac death, angina (chest pain), or abnormal heart rhythm.
People who are overweight or obese often have health problems that may increase the
risk for heart disease. These health problems include high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, and high blood sugar. In addition, excess weight may cause changes to your
heart that make it work harder to send blood to all the cells in your body.
A stroke happens when the flow of blood to a part of your brain stops, causing brain
cells to die. The most common type of stroke, called ischemic stroke, occurs when a
blood clot blocks an artery that carries blood to the brain. Another type of stroke, called
hemorrhagic stroke, happens when a blood vessel in the brain bursts. Overweight and
obesity are known to increase blood pressure. High blood pressure is the leading cause
of strokes. Excess weight also increases your chances of developing other problems
linked to strokes, including high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and heart disease. One of
the most important things you can do to reduce your stroke risk is to keep your blood
pressure under control. Losing weight may help you lower your blood pressure. It may
also improve your cholesterol and blood sugar, which may then lower your risk for
stroke.
Cancer occurs when cells in one part of the body, such as the colon, grow
abnormally or out of control. The cancerous cells sometimes spread to other parts of the
body, such as the liver. Gaining weight as an adult increases the risk for several cancers,
even if the weight gain doesn't result in overweight or obesity. It isn't known exactly
how being overweight increases cancer risk. Fat cells may release hormones that affect
cell growth, leading to cancer. Also, eating or physical activity habits that may lead to
being overweight may also contribute to cancer risk.
Next, the effect is sleep Apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person has one
or more pauses in breathing during sleep. A person who has sleep apnea may suffer
from daytime sleepiness, difficulty focusing, and even heart failure. Obesity is the most
important risk factor for sleep apnea. A person who is overweight may have more fat
stored around his or her neck. This may make the airway smaller. A smaller airway can
make breathing difficult or loud (because of snoring), or breathing may stop altogether
for short periods of time. In addition, fat stored in the neck and throughout the body
may produce substances that cause inflammation. Inflammation in the neck is a risk
factor for sleep apnea.
Therefore, there are some treatments that can cure obesity. Firstly, the way is diet.
There's no single rule that applies to everyone, but to lose weight at a safe and
sustainable rate of 0.5 to 1kg a week, most people are advised to reduce their energy
intake by 600 calories a day.The best way to achieve this is to swap unhealthy and
high-energy food choices – such as fast food, processed food and sugary drinks
(including alcohol).
A healthy diet should consist of:
-plenty of fruit and vegetables
-plenty of potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and other starchy foods
-some milk and dairy foods
-some meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein
-just small amounts of food and drinks that are high in fat and sugar
Try to avoid foods containing high levels of salt because they can raise your blood
pressure, which can be dangerous for people who are already obese. Read some tips for
a lower-salt diet. You'll also need to check calorie information for each type of food and
drink you consume to make sure you don't go over your daily limit. Some
restaurants, cafés and fast food outlets provide calorie information per portion,
although providing this information isn't compulsory. Be careful when eating out
because some foods can quickly take you over the limit, such as burgers, fried chicken,
and some curries or Chinese dishes.
Next, exercise is one of the way to keep ur body healthy. Reducing the amount of
calories in your diet will help you lose weight, but maintaining a healthy weight requires
physical activity to burn energy. As ways to gradually increase your physical activity,you
can :
-Walk every day.
-Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
 -Do errands on foot, if possible. If you need to drive, park farther away and walk to
your destination.
-Go to a spa, gym, or exercise class. Water aerobic classes are especially good if
you have back, knee, or joint problems.
-Do some form of strength training using gym equipment or your own body weight.
In addition to making your muscles stronger and able to work longer without
getting tired, strength training helps you burn more energy when you are at rest.
Muscle mass burns more calories than fat so as your muscle increases so does your
ability to burn calories.

To maintain your exercise program, follow these guidelines:

-Avoid setting your expectations too high. Start out slowly and build your
stamina gradually.
-Find a friend to exercise with.
-Avoid being competitive. Try to improve on your last effort instead of
comparing yourself with someone else.
-Recover completely from illness before resuming exercise. Then start with less
exercise and increase the amount you do gradually to avoid injury.
-Remember that exercise needs to be continued throughout your life. Don't try
to be too intense. Enjoy getting healthy. Have fun.