The Effects of Obesity
ThinWorks offers personalized weight loss programs in Palm Beach Gardens to help with obesity. Obesity is a very serious and chronic condition that has also been referred to as a disease because of the health effects that it can have on the body. People who are classified as overweight can eventually be diagnosed as obese and with obesity comes a far greater risk for developing a series of severe health conditions.
Is Obesity Widespread?
In the United States alone obesity is beginning to reach the level of an epidemic. It’s estimated that 31% of men and 35% of women in the United States are classified as being seriously overweight. Generally, this diagnosis is delivered as a result of body mass index in adults. Children can also be diagnosed using their own body mass index and it’s estimated that around 15% of children between the ages of 6 to 19 can be classified as overweight. BMI is essentially a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters. To diagnose an overweight range, individual BMI generally has to be above 25 on the BMI scale. If a person has their BMI range outside of 30 or higher they qualify as obese. Obesity diagnosis in BMI also gets divided into several different categories. Class I obesity is a person that has a BMI between 30 to 35, class II is BMI that ranges from 35 to 40 and class III obesity is someone with a BMI of 40 or higher. Class III obesity is considered to be severe or extreme and it often leads to the greatest risk of negative health effects as a result of obesity. An example of someone who would be classified as class III obese would be a person that is 5’9″ that weighs 271 pounds or more. Obesity is approaching the possibility of being a threat to public health. In fact, statistically, the increasing numbers of overweight individuals and obesity diagnosis figures are actually starting to catch up to figures on tobacco. Nearly just as many people suffering from obesity are having their health seriously compromised as those who regularly use tobacco products.
What Causes Obesity?
There are many factors that can cause individuals to start gaining weight to the point where they could be identified as obese. The main causes of obesity can be a complex list of factors such as lifestyle, eating habits, metabolism, genetics, and more. ThinWorks is a weight loss clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida that can help with obesity. The main three factors that can cause obesity as outlined by Stanford University are:
Genetics
The chance of you being overweight can increase by as much as 20% if just one of your parents is obese. It’s possible to actually inherit the way that you carry your weight and the way that you gain weight over time. It seems as though your family can play a huge role in developing obesity.
Metabolism
The way that your body expends energy is different from others. A number of hormonal factors, as well as metabolic factors within your body, can determine the way you gain weight. Peptides in the stomach can also have a role in portion control and the way do you feel full after you finish a meal.
Lifestyle
Getting very little exercise when combined with eating unhealthy food can often contribute heavily to obesity. Paying attention to your diet and counting calories can really start to make a difference when managing symptoms. Unfortunately, many individuals go for low-cost options with food and these often are high-fat foods and high-calorie foods.
The Health Effects of Obesity
Obesity can have some overwhelming negative health effects and it’s estimated that these negative consequences from obesity can cause around 300,000 premature deaths in the United States each year. Some of the common negative health effects and conditions that are associated with obesity are:
Diabetes:
Type II diabetes is heavily linked to obesity. This type of diabetes is more common with adults but with the ongoing epidemic of children developing obesity, it’s beginning to occur in children in their teens and even younger. Obesity can not only cause you to develop diabetes but also cause a considerable resistance to insulin which is required for regulating blood sugar. When obesity starts to cause insulin resistance, this makes it very difficult to moderate blood sugar in the future even with the proper medication.
High Blood Pressure:
When the body has extra fat tissue to take care of it needs extra nutrients and extra oxygen in order to live. Obesity basically makes all of your organs work much harder, especially your heart. In order for blood vessels to circulate blood through all of the fat tissue, this means that the heart needs to work overtime and this means placing extra pressure on all of the artery walls as well. Having this extra weight can continually increase heart rate, cause heart problems, and eventually, make it difficult for you to move blood through the blood vessels causing circulation issues.
Sleep Apnea:
Sleep apnea and various respiratory problems are heavily linked to obesity. The added weight along the chest wall can actually squeeze the lungs and eventually cause restrictions in breathing. Sleep apnea is directly related to high blood pressure and this can cause strained breathing or even the cessation of breathing that interrupts sleep and leads to extremely low energy levels throughout the day.
Heart Disease:
Hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) occurs with 10 times more prevalence in obese people. Obesity also improves the chances of acquiring coronary artery disease, narrowed arteries, chest pain, and increased risk of heart attack, and more. The instances of stroke can also occur from narrowing arteries in obese individuals.
Joint Problems/Osteoarthritis:
Early joint problems often occur in the knees and hips because of the extra weight and stress that’s placed on all of the joints. Obese individuals commonly require joint replacement surgery and may even have to walk with a cane or be confined to a wheelchair. It is possible to treat obesity if you are willing to make changes in your lifestyle and work with medical professionals like the professionals at ThinWorks. We offer weight loss programs in Palm Beach Gardens. Some medications are available to assist with metabolic changes and many medical professionals can help with the symptoms associated with obesity as well as with managing a healthier lifestyle.
