Obesity is a life-long, progressive, life-threatening condition marked by excess body fat, which can significantly reduce life expectancy. When weight increases to an extreme level, it is called morbid obesity, and is a chronic condition with numerous medical, psychological, social and economic consequences.
How does one become obese?
Your body needs energy to function and your energy source is the food that you eat. A normal weight person successfully balances their energy intake (food eaten) with their energy requirements (daily activity). In other words, they burn up all the energy provided by the food they eat, and stay slim. However, you began to get fat when you start to eat more food than you need for your energy requirements. Over a long period of time the excess has been stored as fat around your body.
In theory, just 100 calories eaten more than you need each day would lead to a weight gain of 10lbs per year. Do that for 10 years and you could gain 100 lbs (over 7 stone or 45kg)!
However, obesity is a complex condition and not simply caused by overeating. There seems to be some sort of in–built mechanism that causes excessive fat storage in some people, and scientists are working to try and understand more about it. Severe obesity tends to run in families so there is likely to be a genetic component as well.
Weight loss will only happen when your body has to burn up the stored fat to provide your energy. In other words, when your body's energy needs are greater than that provided by the food you eat.
Health Problems due to obesity -
The more obese you are, the more likely you are to have health problems. You are more likely to develop health problems; such as,
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Obstructive Sleep apnea (interrupted breathing during sleep)
- Osteoarthritis (wearing away of the joints)
- Menstrual irregularity
- Stress incontinence
- Cancer (such as colon cancer, endometrial cancer, and postmenopausal breast cancer)
- Gallbladder disease
- Reflux Disorders (GERD)
- Stroke
- Sudden death.
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