Impact and consequences of obesity

Obesity has been looming over our heads since many decades. With the ongoing sedentary lifestyle, it has become a more heated concern. The advancement of technology has enabled to access every possible human need from our home, online.

This makes it more difficult to maintain our fitness levels and we gaining those extra pounds. We start knowing about harms associated with obesity from our initial years of school. Obesity has been rewarded only with bad imagery and there is nothing good associated with it.

Harmful effects of obesity

Obesity is harmful to our vital organs like heart, kidney, brain, liver, gall bladder, and the skeletal system. These physiological changes are the precursor to mental and emotional instability. Let’s have a look at these reasons briefly.

Ø  Respiratory system

An obese person might suffer from apnoea. When fat is stored around the neck, the wind pipe is forcibly squeezed. This leads to shortness of breath. Breathing might stop for short time periods in patients of sleep apnoea.

Ø  Digestive system

If fat builds up around liver, then it leads to liver damage which might turn into liver failure in more serious conditions. Due to obesity, bile starts building up in the gall bladder. This hardens the gall bladder and bile has to be removed surgically. Obesity also increases the risk of GERD (gastro-intestinal reflux disease) in which the digestive juices leak into the oesophagus and cause discomfort.

Ø  Cardiovascular and endocrine system

The faster pumping of heart to produce more blood increases the blood pressure. In obesity, the cells become resistant to blood sugar (insulin) and doesn’t allow it to enter the cells which can lead to high blood sugar.

These combined with high cholesterol levels can make the person susceptible to threatening life problems related to kidney, heart, stroke and blindness. Fat stored near the blood vessels lead to their thinning which increases the risk of heart attack further.

Ø  Skeletal and muscular system

Due to obesity bone density and mass of muscles is reduced. This obesity is specified as osteosarcopenic obesity. In this type, the person is exposed to a higher risk of developing a physical disability, insulin resistance, or fractures. Overweight people face stiffness and pain in joints because of the increased pressure.

Ø  Reproductive system

In women, obesity can have a negative influence on the menstrual cycle. It can alter the chances of getting pregnant and can also cause complications in the ongoing pregnancy.

Ø  Nervous system

Obesity increases the risk of stroke due to improper supply of blood. Sometimes, the brain doesn’t get sufficient blood. This can impair the functions of brain. It affects the thinking capacity, and can cause mental health issues. Self- esteem issues and risk of depression are the other negative impacts on the nervous system.

Ø  Dermatological effects (Skin)

Acanthosis Nigrican is a condition in which decolouration and thickening of skin occurs in those parts where the fat gets accumulated. Also rashes and darkening of skin occurs in these parts like the neck, armpits and groin region.

How to overcome obesity?

Introducing some dietary changes can be the first step to shed the extra kilograms. It is not necessarily important to adapt a specific diet plan.

For starters, you can reduce the amount of harmful fat like trans and saturated fats in your diet, and increase the intake of unsaturated fats that are healthy for the body.

Processed and packaged food have a higher amount of trans fat, sugars, and salt. Thus their intake can be reduced, gradually. Focus more on your veggies, fruits, whole grains, fiber, roughage, and fluids. Start by adopting a basic fitness regime whose intensity can be increased as you progress.

Including your family and well-wishers who would motivate you and make your journey easier might be a good idea. Preparing a budget chart and a list of the healthy food items can also make it easier for you to stay focus while moving in a supermarket. The goal is to buy hood and nutritious food items and steer clear of the unhealthy ones. Stress can be a major contributor for unnecessary weight gain.

Try to control your stress by practising yoga, meditation, maintaining a journal, talking to your friends, listening to music, dancing, exploring your creative side or doing any activity that relaxes your mind and gives you happiness.

BMI (body metabolic index) for overweight person reveals a lot about their physical health. BMI is directly linked to susceptibility to cancer i.e. higher the BMI, higher are the chances to develop cancer.

Obesity isn’t something that has to stay with us forever. With the correct diet plan and a suitable fitness regime losing extra pounds becomes much easier. The risk of living with obesity is not worse than making no attempt to lose the extra weight. The goal is to focus on the solution and not on the problem.

Image Source – Pixabay