Obesity is a complex body state caused by excess fat content in body. In produced increase in weight and much cosmetic concern. Obese persons are prone to diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack etc.
Obesity is a complex disorder involving an excessive amount of
body fat. Obesity isn't just a cosmetic concern. It increases your risk of
diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood
pressure. Being extremely obese is a critical health condition and requires immediate
and expert medical attention, lest it can lead to serious health problems.
Causes
Though genetic, hormonal influences and behavioral pattern have
much importance in the formation of excess body weight, the basic fact is that
when the intake of calories through food we eat exceeds the calories burnt in normal
daily activities, exercises etc, the
extra calories are converted into excess weight. So the best thing to avoid
becoming fat is to keep a balance between the above two facts. However, other
reasons for excess body weight can be summarized as given below.
Inactivity A person who is not very active does not burn more
calories. A sedentary life style keeps you adding more un burnt calories which
in turn adds to your body weight.
Unhealthy
eating habits: Weight gain is natural
when you daily eat more calories than needed by
your body. When you eat biriyani, cakes and other readymade stuff with more calorie value, don’t
forget you are increasing your weight.
Symptoms
Obesity is usually diagnosed by checking your body
mass index. BMI is the ratio of your
body mass in kilograms to the square of your
weight in meters. When the body
mass index exceeds 30, you are diagnosed
as obese. BMI between 30 and 35 is considered as class I obese and obesity between 35 and 40 is considered as class II
obese and obesity above 40 is considered as class II obese which is extreme
obesity. BMI gives an approximate picture of a persons body fat. But this is not true in all cases. For example a muscular
athlete may be having a large BMI index which falls under obese category
and they still may not be having any
body fat at all.
Risk
factors
A
person becomes obese not because of a single reason, but usully there are a
combination of reasons or circumstances which lead to obesity.
1. Genetics: Genetic reasons can be there is the storage of more fat
in the body. Genetics also play a vital role in deciding the conversion
of food into energy and how the stored calories are burnt in e
2. Family life style: It has been found that there are more obese
persons in a family. This is not due to genetic reasons alone. The family diet
habits are also a reason for such
obesity.
3. Unhealthy diet: A diet that
is without fruits or vegetables and rich in calories are considered as
unhealthy food. Similarly fast food, beverages and eating more are also causes
for obesity.3. Inactivity: A person who inactive does not burn more calories. A sedentary life style can add to the accumulation of balance calorie values in your body. Medical problems like arthritis can compel one to be inactive and this can lead to obesity.
4. Medical problems: Diseases like Cushing’s syndrome, Prader-Willi- syndrome etc can lead to obesity.
5. Some medications: Certain medications like antidepressants, diabetes medications,steroids, beta blockers etc can lead to excessive body weight
6. Social and economic factors: Research has established the effect of social and economic reasons in the increase in body weight of a person. Absence of facility for exercising, improper cooking, lack of money to buy better food etc are some of such problems.
7. Pregnancy: Weight of a woman naturally increases during pregnancy. This extra weight are not gone after the birth of the baby in some women.
8. Quitting smoking: It has been found that people who quit smoking usually become obese. In the longer run this extra weight is found to be much better than the problems that can be caused by smoking.
Your
appointment with doctor
Discussing
your problem of obesity with your family doctor is the first thing you have to
do. You can honestly disclose your weight concerns. Sometimes he may refer to
an obesity specialist if such a doctor is available in your neighborhood. He may also refer your case to a dietician,
nutrition or behavioral counselor
What
you can do
When
you prepare for the appointment think about your goals and make a list of
questions like the ones given below for which you need an answer.
What
eating style or activity pattern is contributing to my increase in weight?
How
can I face and manage my challenges regarding obesity?
Have
my obesity caused other health problems?
What
are the available treatment options for the problems faced by me?
Is it necessary for me to undergo weight loss
surgery?
Let
your doctor understand all the medical problems faced by you at present and all
the medications taken by you presently. Doctor will ask questions to understand
the weight gain pattern, about your eating habits, your activity level, your
expectations about the gains etc.
In
the meanwhile you can change your daily diet to be healthier by including
fruits, vegetables, and grains in it. You portion size can be reduced. Say good
bye to sedentary life style and start moving around your house and slowly start
walking or doing daily exercises.
Tests
and diagnosis
Studying
your health history: Your doctor will review your health history,
your exercise habits, stress levels, eating habits, medications etc. Your family’s medical history also will be
reviewed by your physician.
Physical
examination: Measuring your height, recording
your heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, examining your abdomen and listening to your heart and lungs are done during physical
examination.
Finding
your BMI: Your doctor will calculate your emi based on
the details of your height and weight. Your BMI value gives him an idea about
the graveness of the problem faced by
you and helps him to design the course of action and treatment options
suitable for your stage.
Measuring
your waist: Body fat is stored around
the waist of your body. Abdominal fat can increase your risk factor. Women with
waist size more than 35 inches and men with waist size more than 40 inch are facing more health risks.
Your health
problems:
if you have known health problems doctor
will review its present stage. He will also ask you to conduct liver function
test, cholesterol test, electrocardiogram test, blood test for knowing sugar
levels and thyroid tests.
Gathering
this information is necessary for the doctor to evaluate your problems and take
proper decisions regarding the course of action to be taken in your case.
Treatment
Obesity
treatment aims at reducing the over weight of the body and make it stay
permanent at a healthy weight. Your Co-operation with a team of experts
consisting of dietician, behavior
counselor and an obesity specialist can help you to attain your aims.
Initial
goal of your treatment will be to reduce your weight by3 to 5 percent. For
example if you are a person weighing 91 kgs and is obese, the initial aim will
be to reduce your weight by 2-7 kg to 4.5 kg which will be around 3-5 percent.
All
weight loss programs insist change in your eating habits and increase in your
physical activity. Other treatment tools
include include behavioral change, weight loss medications and weight loss
surgery
Dietary
changes:
Reducing the calorie intake through food and starting healthier eating habits
are the expected dietary changes. Initially you may lose weight quickly, but
steady and slow weight loss is needed for long term effects. Don’t make any unrealistic or drastic changes
like crash diets in diet habits. Because they are unlikely to produce
sustainable results. Plan a comprehensive program for six months and a
maintenance program lasting for at least one year.
Participating
in comprehensive weight loss program: participate in the program suggested
by your doctor for at least six months
and plan a maintenance phase of about one year to boost your success. No best
diet for weight loss cannot be suggested generally, but the following changes
in dietary considerations can be beneficial.
1. Reducing calories: Choose healthy food that you feel, will do good for you. You can
evaluate the normal calorie value of your present food intake and this can lead
to an insight about the places where you can cut back. Typical calorie intake
needed for a woman is 1,200 to 1,500 calories for ladies and 1,500 to 1,800 for
gents.
2. Feeling full with less food intake: Taking into
consideration vital factors like energy density can lead you to feel full with
lesser calories. For a given volume, each food have some amount of calorie in
it. Some food like candies beverages, processed food etc are rather high in
energy density. That is their calorie value for a given volume will be
much greater that other food. Avoid such
food and go for lower energy density foods. Such foods have larger volume with
lesser amount of calories in it. Fruits, vegetables etc are examples of foods
with less energy density. By eating such foods, you can escape hunger pangs and
feel happy about your meal.
3. Make overall diet healthier: By eating more plant based food,
the overall diet of a person can be made more healthier. Food like vegetables,
fruits, whole grains etc which are rich in carbohydrates and food like beans,
fish etc which are rich in proteins etc make your diet healthier.
4. Restricting some foods: Certain food items like sweet beverages are a straight way to
high calories and hence such food has to be avoided completely or its usage has
to be restricted to the fullest possible extent.
5. Meal replacements: As per this program you
will have to replace one or two meals by their products like shakes or meal
bars which contain less calories. You can also replace your meals by low
calorie snacks which are very low in fat. It does not require you to change
your life style instead, it prescribes a changed eating pattern.
6. Never go for crash diets: Crash dieting may show
some initial results which may be
tempting. But in the end they will prove
to be useless and you will only gain in weight in the end. So never go for any
crash dieting.
Exercise and
activity
Increases
activities involving physical exertion is very important in reducing the excess body weight.
Exercise: An obese person is expected to take moderate physical activity for
at least 150 minutes every week. This will
help to stop further weight gain and will maintain a modest weight lost.
Increasing the exercise to 300 minutes a week can give you a quicker result.
Keep moving: Even though aerobic exercises are can help
you in weight loss, making simple changes in your day to day life and
continuing it regularly can create big changes. Parking your vehicle at distant
place form the store or working place, engaging in gardening activity at home
etc are some of such works which can keep you engaged and help in burning
additional calories. Wearing a pedometer to count the steps you walk everyday can
make you addicted to it and produce greater results in the long run.
Behavior
changes:
Programs
for modification of behavior can be helpful in changing your life style and improve
the rate of weight loss. Studying your current habits and finding out whether
stress or situations in your life has contributed to the fat accumulation in your body can help you
very much in understanding some of the root causes and avoid such situations in
future. There can be different problems like of time for exercising, late-night
eating etc. Find out them and change them or take precautionary step for non
recurrence of such situations.
Counseling: Medical
intervention and discussion with trained mental health professionals can help
to address emotional problems and behavioral problems related to eating. Therapy will help you to
understand what you over eat and overcome the emotional stressed compelling to
do so. These counseling sessions can be on individual and group based. Intensive
counseling program consists of 12 to 26 sessions per year.
Support groups: Your physician will help you to come in
contact with support group of persons who suffer from similar problems. This will provide you moral support and
instill confidence in you by hearing the true stories of the successful weight
loss experiences.
Weight
loss medication: It has been found that weight loss medication is useful in some cases where healthy diet and regular exercises
are practices without any positive results. After examining your medical
history and understanding the overall health condition of you,your doctor may
prescribe any of the below mentioned medications.
lorcaserin (Belviq), orlistat
(Xenical), phentermine, topiramate (Qsymia), topiramate (Qsymia), buproprion naltrexone
(Contrave), or liraglutide (Saxenda).
You can take weight loss
medications only under close monitoring. Also understand that weight loss
medications may not be effective for everyone and weight lost during medication
period may come back when you stop taking medications.
Weight-loss surgery
If none of the above procedures or
techniques prove to be ineffective even after continued usage for about
one more years and if your excess body
weight remains very high then the only
option is to go for surgical options.
There are generally three surgical procedures followed for reducing the excess
body weigh of human beings. These surgical process will be explained in an another
post which will be published shortly in this page.
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