Obesity is a medical condition in which an individual accumulates excessive amount of adipose tissue. It is not the same as having high bone density or muscle and mainly concerns having a huge amount of fat in the body. It is a condition wherein the body weight of an individual increases drastically and reaches to a limit that it begins to adversely affect the body, not only in terms of physical discomfort but also as a niche to attract several other diseases.
Obesity-related Diseases
Having excess weight brings a chain of other tag-along diseases. Obesity makes the individual susceptible to the following medical conditions-
- Diabetes Type 2,
- Cancer in organs like Breast, Colon, Kidney & others
- Coronary Heart Disorders
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholesterol
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Diseases of Liver and Gallbladder
- Stroke and Asthma
- Osteoarthritis
- Respiratory conditions
- Infertility in both men and women
- Lesser sexual urges
- Gynecological Problems
- Miscarriages and Birth Defects
- Difficult Labor and Preterm Labor
- Low Birth Weight Baby born to an obese mother
Discrimination by friends and family often makes the individual suffer from low self-esteem; as the result of which the person eventually begins to avoid social gatherings. Overall it affects the quality of life drastically and reduces the overall lifespan.
Almost every obese suffers from at least one of the aforementioned conditions, while most of the others deal with multiple disorders.
It’s Spread Across the World
About a century ago, obesity was considered as a disease only rich, elite people can afford to have. This idea has no place in today’s reality. Obesity is engulfing India and other countries at an alarming rate. Approximately, 13 percent of the global population is dealing with obesity every single day and the counting is on the rise. In India itself, 1 in every 5 Indians is either overweight or obese.
In fact, the overall global obesity statistics has almost doubled in the last four decades and is increasing even more as every second passes by. In most of the countries, the number of people dying from obesity is exceeding the numbers dying from starvation.
The special case of childhood obesity – Obesity is not only common among young adults; several children are also falling into the death trap of obesity. Children as young as 5 years or below are also a target of obesity. Around 42 million children under the age of five are either obese or overweight.
Treatment of Obesity
Prevention is the best cure, and it applies for obesity as well. In fact, by consuming balanced diet along with doing adequate physical exercise, one can almost mitigate obesity from their life. In fact, in case of mild increase in weight, making few adjustments in diet and lifestyle and sincerely following it can correct the situation to a large extent.
However, once an individual gets laden with excess pounds, it is not that simple anymore.
Thus, in case of obese patients, the most effective treatment that corrects the situation is bariatric surgery, which removes excess weight from the body, along with several obesity-related diseases.
