By Sola Ogundipe
Obesity means having far too much body fat. It’s about much more than your clothing size or how you look. It can seriously affect your health. Your whole body feels it, from your joints to your heart, blood pressure, blood sugar, and other systems. The extra fat cells produce inflammation and various hormones, which boosts your odds of chronic medical conditions.
Obesity describes someone who is very overweight with a high degree of body fat. Being a little overweight may not cause many noticeable problems, but once you are carrying a few extra kilograms, you may develop symptoms that affect your daily life.
Are you obese?
Obesity is beyond being simply overweight. It’s very common — more than 1 in 5 adults are obese. If you’re one of them, you can work to lose weight. Although it’s not easy, dropping some of those extra kilos — maybe fewer than you think — starts to turn things around for you.
Body Mass Index
The most widely used method to assess a person’s weight is the body mass index (BMI), which is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in metres squared.
For adults, experts usually define obesity based on body mass index. If your BMI is between 25 and 29, you would be considered overweight; if between 30 and 40, you would be considered obese and if over 40, you would be considered very obese.
What your BMI says
If two people weigh the same amount but one is taller than the other, the taller person will have a lower BMI. To find your body mass index, plug your height and weight into a BMI calculator.
If your BMI is: Below 18.5 you are underweight. If it is 18.5-24.9 you’re normal; 25-29.9 is overweight and 30 or higher is obese. If you’re obese, your doctor might talk about the categories of obesity:
Obesity level l: BMI of 30-34.9
Obesity level ll: BMI of 35-39.9
Obesity level lll: BMI of 40 or higher (“morbid”) obesity
Problems with BMI
Body mass index doesn’t tell the whole story about your body, though. Your BMI doesn’t show whether your weight is fat or muscle. If you’re a super-fit athlete, your muscle might put you in the “overweight” or “obese” range. Or, if you’re elderly and have lost muscle mass over the years, your BMI could be normal, but you’re not in as good shape as you think. The formula also doesn’t show where your fat is located on your body. And it doesn’t consider differences among ethnic groups.
As obese children also tend to be obese in later life, it is important for parents to set the right example for their children from an early age. If you are overweight or obese, visit your doctor to find out if you are at increased risk of health problems, and how you can safely lose weight.
Underlying causes for obesity
*certain medicine or a medical condition that causes weight gain,
*your lifestyle particularly your diet and how much physical activity you do, and also whether you smoke, and how much alcohol you drink
*how you feel about being overweight – for example, if you are feeling depressed about it or how motivated you are to lose weight
*family history of obesity and other health conditions, such as diabetes
As well as calculating your BMI, your doctor may also perform tests including measuring your blood pressure, the distance around your waist, as well as glucose (sugar) and lipid (fat) levels in your blood.
Obesity vs overweight
Being obese is different from being overweight. Obesity is an important condition which causes significant morbidity and mortality through increased rates of type 2 diabetes mellitus and heart disease, amongst other conditions. It can also cause sleep disturbances and lead to reduced fertility rates.
Obesity and pain
There now appears to be a strong link between obesity and pain. Studies show that obese people are much more likely to feel light to intense pain in many parts of the body. Scientists do not understand exactly how or why obesity causes pain, but it is clear that weight loss can help reduce pain and improve quality of life for obese patients.
Check your Waist Size
Another useful method is to measure around your waist. Men whose waist measurement is 40 inches or 94 cm or more and women whose waist measurment is 35 inches or 80 cm or more are more likely to develop obesity-related health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.
If your waist is more than 35 inches around and you’re a woman, or if it’s more than 40 inches and you’re a man, you might have too much belly fat. Carrying extra fat around your stomach is unhealthy, no matter what your BMI is.
The Edmonton Scale
There are five stages:
Stage 0: You don’t have any health problems related to your weight.
Stage 1: Any weight-related health problems are mild (such as borderline high blood pressure or occasional aches and pains).
Stage 2: You have an obesity-related chronic disease, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, or osteoarthritis, and you have moderate problems doing daily activities or feeling well.
Stage 3: You’ve had serious weight-related problems, such as a heart attack, heart failure, stroke, or other conditions.
Stage 4: This is the most severe level of weight-related chronic health conditions, which are extreme and life-threatening..
What obesity does to your body
The risks go up and up as BMI increases. Obesity puts extra stress on your bones, joints, and organs, making them work harder than they should. Too much body fat raises your blood pressure and cholesterol, and makes heart disease and stroke more likely. It also worsens conditions like osteoarthritis, back pain, asthma, and sleep apnea.
Too much fat causes inflammation that can damage cells. Obesity is also linked to several types of cancers. It can also make your body respond less well to insulin, which controls your blood sugar. Over time, that can lead to type 2 diabetes.
The weight makes it harder to be active, too. Carrying around extra pounds takes extra energy, so it can be difficult for obese people to exercise.
What helps
If you’ve tried to lose weight before, you know it’s much easier said than done. It’s not just about willpower, and the solutions go way beyond counting calories, fat grams, or carbs. What you eat and how active you are affects your whole day. You’ll need to makeover the habits that go into your meals, snacks, and activities.
That’s a huge commitment. Take it one small step at a time. You can build on successes. Don’t try to do too much, too soon. If you often eat for emotional reasons, you’ll need to find other ways to handle the feelings that usually make you eat. Consider talking with a counselor. She can help you make those shifts in how you think, and how you relate to food and to your body.
Meanwhile, your body might resist your weight-loss efforts. “If someone does lose 20 or 30 pounds, their metabolism goes down and they start to burn fewer calories. Our bodies are designed to regain weight, so it’s much easier to prevent obesity than to treat it.
Making changes
Before you start to make changes, write down everything you eat and drink for a few days. This can help you decide what you need to change about your diet.
Most people, at any weight, need to eat more fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. They also need to cut out junk food and sugary drinks.
Being active is also key. Any kind of movement helps, and you don’t have to go to a gym. Ask your doctor what’s OK for you to do. A certified personal trainer can help you plan a workout that fits your needs.
If you find that you need more help than diet and exercise, talk with your doctor. Certain prescription drugs are approved for weight loss. They curb your appetite or prevent your body from absorbing fat. You’ll still need to watch what you eat and be active.
Weight loss surgery can help people lose large amounts of weight. But it’s not right for everyone, and it does have risks. You won’t be able to eat like you used to, you might need to take vitamins to meet your nutritional needs, and you’ll need to work on diet and exercise to keep up the results.
Keep your perspective
If it all seems like too much to take on, or if your past tries to lose weight make you wonder if it will ever happen for you, take a moment to challenge those thoughts. It’s not about being a certain size. It’s about small steps that add up to better health over time. If you lose as little as 5-10 per cent of your weight, it starts to make a positive difference. Focus on what is possible for you and what you can commit to, even if it’s just for right now. You can make the decision again tomorrow and build your way to where you want to be, day by day.
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