What is Obesity?
In a lay-man’s words or
simply means the excess accumalation of body fats or excess proportion of body fats.Medically,it’s defined
as a condition in which
excess body fats has accumulated to an
extent that it may have an adverse effect on health,leading to an increase in health problems or reduced life expectancy rate .
Obesity increase s
the likelihood of various diseases
,particular ly Heart diseases ,Diabetes mellitus ,Diabetes insipidus and other ailments .
A person is
considered obese when his or her weight
is 20% or more than the normal body weight for his/her age and
height.The most common measure of
obesity is the Body Mass
Index(BMI).
Some Risk factors
of Obesity
A risk factor is something
that increase s the likelihood of
getting a disease or developing
a pathologic condition.These risk factors includes:poor diet ,age,lack of physical exercise ,lack of adequate rest and sleep,poor and reckless eating habits,medical conditions,race(more prominent
in the black race than in whites),genetic factors, physiologic condition like during
pregnancy.
Causes of Obesity(aetiology)
Obesity occurs when a
person consumes more calories than he or
she burns,it most times points to eating
too much with little or no
exercise.There are other factors that also play a role in obesity ,these include :
(i)AGE –as we grow older the
body’s ability to metabolize food slows down.
(ii)GENETICS –Obesity tends to run in families
(iii)GENDER-Women tend to be more overweight than Men
(iv)ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
(v)PHYSICAL ACTIVITY –absence of this will lead to obesity
HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF OBESITY
Obesity has been established
as major risk factor for Diabetes
,Hypertension ,High blood pressure,Cardiovascular diseases ,idiopathic (unknown cause)intracranial hypertension ,lower extremity venous stasis
disease(this due to atherosclerosis-abnormall thickening of the blood vessels
by fats),urinary stress incontinence etc
Prevention of Obesity
Let me not bore you anymore with my burgos medical
terms,this right here is as simple as saying karibu,eat healthy and balanced
diets,exercise regularly and go for
routine medical checks.
Treatment of Obesity
Treatment includes a
combination of balanced and healthy
Dieting ,regular exercising ,behavioural
change and sometimes administering under
the prescription of a Doctor ,weight
loss drugs and in extreme cases of obesity ,gastrointestinal surgeries maybe recommended.
CONCLUSION,Dear rafiki yangu, eat healthy and balanced diets,exercise regularly and go for routine medical checkup.
Source: Iniobong Ugochukwu(Chuchu)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment