Understanding Obesity: Causes, Risks, and Prevention

Obesity is a disorder that involves excessive accumulation of fat in the body that increases the risk of health problems.  It is characterized by a body mass index (BMI) of over 30. It results from having excessive consumption of calories than one is burning during exercise or normal daily activity. 

Obesity is slowly replacing under nutrition and infectious diseases as the leading factor of I’ll health in the world. It’s currently associated with diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease and certain forms of cancer and also affects breathing while and individual is sleeping also known as sleep- breathing disorder, (kopelman, nature 2000, page 635-643l)

Obesity currently threatens heath care resources since there is an increase in patients affected by effects of it . 

Causes of obesity include

•Food and physical inactivity

•Environmental factors

•Genetics

•Stress , emotional factors and poor sleep

•Health conditions and medication.

 

Risk factors

Certain factors increase the chances of an individual suffering from obesity. They include:

•Age

•Lifestyle choices such as smoking and alcoholism

•Certain diseases and medications

•Stress

•Pregnancy

Ways of preventing obesity

Obesity can be prevented if certain measures are out in place. They include

•Diet—whole grains, vegetables, fruits and nuts consumption help with control of obesity.

•Management of weight gain in infancy may help prevent obesity later in life. This can be achieved by encouraging exclusive breastfeeding.

•An increase in physical activity can help prevent obesity.

 

Conclusion

Obesity causes a lot of health complications which can be reduced if measures are put in place. These measures can include encouraging mothers to exclusive breast feed their babies, increased physical activity which will help burn excessive calories . Right diet can also help conquer obesity, encouraging consumption of nuts, vegetables and whole grains since they are foods that are rich in fiber which helps in weight control. 

 

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