What is obesity?
Obesity is simply excess amount of fat in our bodies. Nowadays it is considered a real medical disease, often with familial factors, and this disease is expanding globally. According to American Obesity Organization obesity statistics, over 127 million adults in the USA are overweight, 60 million are obese, and over 9 million are morbidly obese. There is a tendency for further obesity expansion all over the world and in USA especially.
- Genetics and medical
- It means some people are predisposed to storing fat and gaining weight. The medical community are currently researching responsible genes and finding ways to developing treatment. Another reason of obesity is illness or disorder that affects our metabolism – the most widespread is hypothyroidism.
- Enviornment and life style
- This is a main trigger to emersion of excess weight and obesity. The way modern people are living, especially in cities - serious lack of physical activity, stress and domination of high calorie cheap food in our diet.
According to official data, obesity takes away approximately 300000 lives in the USA every year. RAND corporation concluded that obesity damages our health more than alcohol, smoking and poverty. Obesity is a reason to serious health conditions, such as:
- High blood pressure
- Cardiovascular disease
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Type 2 diabetes
- Gallbladder disease
- Cancer of different body organs
- Osteoarthritis and disability
- Sleep apnea and others
Obesity can heavily affect the state of our muscles and bones, heart and lung. The researches include over 30 medical conditions that relate to obesity. Excess weight can also aggravate most of overall health problems.
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