Are you aware that being overweight can harm you more than being underweight? Yes! It’s true read on to find out why.
Fight the fat: Stay fit to the finish!
World obesity day is observed annually on the 11th of October. The theme for obesity day 2018 is “End Weight Stigma”.
What is Obesity?
Obesity is defined as the presence of excess fat in the body, that poses a risk to our health. The types: Female or Male!
Obesity can be of female or male type! Isn’t that a surprising fact? The type of obesity is based on the distribution of fat in the body. In the female or pear-shaped type, there is fat deposition is in the lower part of the body whereas in the male or apple-shaped type there is excess fat in the upper part of the body.
The 3 key alphabets!
Curious to know which are those 3 alphabets and why is it important to us? It is BMI! Body Mass Index (BMI) is a person’s weight in kilogram divided by height in square meters. It is important to know the BMI in order to understand whether you are overweight or obese.
Overweight! Not obese
Most of us tend to consider obesity as being overweight. However, this is not true! The fact is that all obese are overweight, but, the reverse may not be true. There is a thin line that separates them, i.e BMI. An individual with a BMI of ≥ 30 is obese whereas BMI ≥ 25 but less than 30 is considered overweight.
What causes obesity?
Excessive eating, Unhealthy diet (high sugar or fat content), Sedentary lifestyle, Little or excess sleep, Genetic factors, Medical conditions (e.g Improper thyroid function).
The Stunning stats!
- 39% of adults with age 18 years and above are overweight and 13% are obese, which makes it a whooping 650 million obese people!
- 41 million people under the age of 5 are obese.
- 340 million individuals between the age of 5-19 are obese.
It’s a risky business!
The greater the BMI, the higher is the associated health risks. Few important risks are mentioned below.
- Increased blood pressure
- Menstrual irregularities
- Heart disease
- Diabetes
- Kidney stone
- Breathing obstruction during sleep
- Cancer ( e.g Breast and prostate cancer)
- Depression
Prevention
The greater the BMI, the higher is the associated health risks. A few important risks are mentioned below.
“Obesity is a vicious cycle pushing you towards diseases; diseases that can be completely avoided, or at least delayed!…so come, let’s begin the fight against fat!……”
