Obesity

Obesity is one of the most common conditions worldwide, and it’s not only about the shape, but it’s a real health condition that causes numerous serious complications in the body.

Obesity

Obesity is an extremely high body fat, and it’s a serious health condition; it also contributes to several harmful symptoms in the body, physically and mentally.

Obesity in general is classified depending on the body mass index (BMI), which measures the average of the body weight with the height, and the waist circumference.

BMI is measured by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. Depending on it, obesity is classified into three classes:

• Class I obesity: BMI 30-less than 35 kg/m²
• Class II obesity: BMI is 35- less than 40 kg/m²
• Class III obesity: BMI is 40 or higher kg/m²

As for the waist circumference, measuring more than 89 cm (35 inches) in females and 102 cm (40 inches) in males is considered an indicator of obesity.

Causes and risk factors leading to obesity

Obesity mainly occurs as a result of eating more calories than the body burns, which makes these extra calories stored in the body as fat. Generally, multiple factors contribute to increasing the risk of obesity, such as:

• Genetics.
• The lifestyle that depends on having huge amounts of food, eating only high-calorie food, and not exercising enough.
• Stress.
• Lack of sleep.
• Some health conditions, such as hypothyroidism, PCOS, depression, and anxiety.
• Some medications, such as steroids, some antidepressants, anti-seizures, diabetes medications, and hypertension medications.
• Aging.

Complications of obesity

Obesity is very impactful in these complications:

• Psychological problems and low self-esteem.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Hypertension.
• Metabolic syndrome.
• Cardiovascular diseases.
• Stroke.
• Sleep apnea.
• Fatty liver disease.
• Digestive problems, such as heartburn and gallstones.
• Kidney disease.
• Osteoarthritis.
• Certain cancers, such as uterine, ovarian, breast, esophageal, colon, and pancreatic cancers.
• Infertility in females and pregnancy problems.
• Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Diagnosis of obesity

• BMI and waist circumference measures.
• Family history.
• Medical history of the patient.
• Evaluating the lifestyle and mental health of the patient.

Treatment of obesity

• The treatment differs between people depending on the causative factors. However, it mainly depends on changing the lifestyle, changing eating habits, and increasing physical activity.
• Medications.
• Bariatric surgery, if other treatments didn’t work.
• Preventing obesity is possible by following healthy eating habits, exercising regularly, and taking care of the health in general.