The modern world supplies us with a lot of food and conveniences but has yet to provide a way to stop calories and obesity. In the US alone, around 60% of the people are overweight and 30% are obese. These figures, as bad as they are, only seem to get worse with more and younger people becoming obese too. With this, there has been an increase in health problems caused by obesity.
What are the health risks of obesity? Being overweight is certainly about a lot more than just one's appearance. There are very serious health concerns that arise from obesity. These diseases, if not checked in time, can even prove to be fatal. Some of the diseases that can be caused or worsened by obesity are:
Diabetes: When there is excess fat on the body, muscles and tissues become resistant to insulin, and the sugars in the blood are not converted to energy for these muscles and tissues they way they normally would be. The increased levels of insulin in the blood this leads to can eventually lead to Type 2 diabetes. As the obesity rate has increased, so has this type of diabetes.
Cardiovascular Disease: Heart disease is the biggest killer in the Western world and being overweight is a major factor in it. Being overweight causes stress on the heart and arteries. Obesity leads to the thickening of blood vessels, increased arterial resistance and increased heart output and blood volume. All of this increases the load on the heart.
Cancers: High BMI or body mass index increases the rates of cancers to include prostate, colon, breast and kidney.
Fortunately, many of the health problems brought on by obesity can reduced with weight loss. Some other benefits from weight loss are:
Drop in blood cholesterol: A healthy diet and fitness regimen is certainly going to cut down the cholesterol levels in the blood. This in turn will protect from heart attacks and strokes.
Energy boost: Being overweight takes up a lot of the body's resources, and this in turn makes it more difficult for obese people to do the things they really enjoy in life. Obese people are forced to live sedentary lives devoid of many of the activities fit people are free to enjoy. Losing that extra weight gives people the energy to do the things they enjoy.
These are not the only risks of being overweight and benefits of taking those unneeded pounds off. To address the obesity problem, prevent it from getting worse and eventually reverse it, people will have to be informed of its risks and the benefits of losing weight so that they will be motivated to take action.
For advice and tips on staying healthy and fit, see Current Health Events to keep abreast on health topics to include mental health, fitness, diet, motivation to exercise and nutrition.
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