Back9 facts about being overweight
In March 2013, a World Health Organisation report said that obesity has taken the form of an epidemic. Whereas obesity used to affect only high-income countries, it has now spread to middle- and low-income countries! In this regard, WHO representatives appealed to everyone on the planet: "Governments, international partners, civil society, non-governmental organisations and the private sector all need to contribute to the prevention of obesity".
Here are the most important facts about obesity that aim to highlight the issue of overweight as vividly as possible!
1. Overweight and obesity are defined as "pathological or excessive accumulation of fat that can lead to health disorders". In other words, obesity is a disease. And any disease requires treatment!
2. Since 1980, the number of obese people worldwide has more than doubled! In 2008, more than 1.4 billion people were overweight and more than 500 million were obese. Overweight and obesity are the cause of death for about 3 million people a year.
3. In 2008, more than 4 million children under five worldwide were overweight. In 2010 - this figure according to official data has increased 10 times - up to 40 million! Childhood obesity is becoming one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century! These children, when they reach adulthood, will have a high risk of developing socially significant diseases: diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular pathologies.
4. Children's choices and their eating and physical activity habits are influenced by their environment - mostly family traditions!
5. Obesity can be divided into two types: hypertrophic - when the size of fat cells increases and hypertrophic - associated with an increase in their number. In the first case, the treatment is much more favourable - with the help of diet, normalisation of lifestyle and drug therapy, it can be managed. In the second case - the principle of treatment is mainly reduced to surgical methods.
6. There are 7 major risk factors that lead to obesity: genetic predisposition, environmental factors, cultural factors, individual factors, physical and mental illnesses, and taking medications that cause obesity.
7. Obesity indirectly causes or causes 50 different common diseases from 10 sections of medicine, including psychiatry and oncology.
8. Obesity is usually the result of an incorrect ratio between calories absorbed and calories expended. Diet therapy and exercise are considered to be the mainstay of treatment. However, this only leads to weight loss for a short period of time - it is necessary to constantly maintain a set life rhythm. Drug therapy helps to consolidate the effect, but its prescription must have clear clinical and laboratory indications.
9. The diagnosis of obesity is made on the basis of the body mass index (BMI):
|
BMI |
weight-to-height ratio |
|
16 and less |
Significant underweight |
|
16—18,5 |
Insufficient (deficit) body weight |
|
18,5—25 |
Norm |
|
25—30 |
Overweight (pre obesity) |
|
30—35 |
First-degree obesity |
|
35—40 |
Second-degree obesity |
|
40 and more |
Third-degree obesity |
As mentioned earlier, in order to effectively treat obesity, it is necessary to identify the cause of obesity, in which laboratory diagnosis helps.
Somatotropic hormone (STH, somatotropin, growth hormone) - prevents fat deposition. At a young age, this hormone is produced very actively, but after the age of 30, its concentration begins to decrease. This causes fat molecules to accumulate in fat tissue, thus increasing body weight.
Prolactin is a hormone that affects the production of sex hormones, which in turn regulate fat metabolism.
Thyroid hormones (T3, T4 total and free) - hormones responsible for metabolism in the body: their deficiency leads to the fact that incoming fats do not have time to "burn" and are deposited in adipose tissue.
Insulin - increases the production of fatty acids in the body and also promotes the conversion of glucose into fats-triglycerides.
Triglycerides - their high level in the blood is an indicator of impaired fat metabolism.
Glucose - a marker of diabetes mellitus - a disease that leads to obesity.
Cholesterol (Chs) is the main indicator that should be carefully monitored in obesity (recommended monthly). High cholesterol concentration leads to the development of the most common complication of obesity - atherosclerosis. Cholesterol is conventionally divided into two fractions: "atherogenic" and "anti-atherogenic".
LDL-Chs- atherogenic cholesterol fraction, a direct factor in the development of atherosclerotic disease.
HDL-Chs - prevents the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in blood vessels.
Apoliprotein B - considered a key link in the process of cholesterol absorption by cells.
Apoliprotein A1 - prevents cholesterol from being absorbed by cells.
In conclusion, it is worth adding that obesity significantly reduces the quality of people's lives, having a negative impact on every organ of our body. In order to effectively treat this disease, it is first of all necessary to identify the cause of its occurrence and only then to start treatment in the best possible way!
Attention! You can undergo a blood test for obesity markers in any treatment room of the OLYMP CDL branches. There is a special price for the "Overweight Problems" profile!
Prepared using data from the World Health Organisation http://www.who.int
Tags:
obesity; overweight; diagnosis of obesity