الأحد، 26 مايو 2013

Obesity


 

 

          It's a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. People are considered obese when their Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement obtained by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of the person's height in meters, exceeds 30 kg/m2.Obesity is from the Latin word, obesitas, which means "stout, fat, or plump."Ēsus is the past participle of edere (to eat), with ob (over) added to it.

The Greeks were the first to recognize obesity as a medical disorder. Historically, obesity has been viewed as a sign of wealth and prosperity because for most human history mankind struggled with food scarcity. Human obesity is clearly depicted in Stone Age Artifacts, notably numerous figurines that have been found within a 2000 kilometre band crossing Europe from South-Western France to Southern Russia. Most famous is the Venus of Willendorf, an 11 centimeter figurine found in Austria.

          The cause of obesity is quite simply when a person consumes more calories from the food that he or she is able to burn. It is a combination of excessive food energy intake and a lack of physical activity. A limited number of cases is due primarily to genetics, medical reasons and psychiatric illness. Eating habits is one of the listed cause of obesity. Nutritional guidelines even when widespread have done so little to solve the problem of overeating and poor dietary choice. An increase in the average amount of food energy consumed came from an increase in carbohydrate consumption rather than fat consumption. The primary sources of these carbohydrates are sweetened beverages which are consumed in our daily food energy and also potato chips. Consumption of sweetened beverages and chips is believed to be contributing to the rising rates of obesity. Inactive lifestyle is also one of its causes; nowadays lots of people are not physically active; they spend hours in front of TV and computer. In fact, more than two hours a day of watching TV has been linked to overweight and obesity. Other reasons for not being active are using a car instead of walking, and less physical activities at home and at work because of modern technology and conveniences. People who are inactive are more likely to gain weight because they don’t burn the calories that they take in from food and drinks. Genetics is one of the factors which cause obesity; it tends to run in families. However, families also share diet and lifestyle habits which may contribute to obesity. The chances of being overweight are greater if one or both of your parents are overweight. Genes also affect the amount of fat you store in your body and where on your body you carry extra fat.

 Environment is another cause for obesity; a person’s environment also plays a vital part. Environment includes lifestyle behaviors, such as kinds of food a person eat and the physical activity they have. Some people tend to have high-fat diets, putting taste and convenience ahead of nutritional facts when they choose their meals without doing any physical activities to burn the calories they take. Today more people drive short distance to work instead of walking, and tend to eat out instead of cooking.

Psychological disturbances may also influence eating habits; many people eat much in response to their emotions such as happiness, boredom, sadness, excitement and sadness. Most overweight people have no more psychological disturbances than people at their normal weight; the ones who seek treatment for serious weight problems have difficulties with binge eating.  The binge eating is when people eat large amounts of food while they can’t control the amount of food they eat; people who have a severe problem have what is called binge eating disorder. This people may have more difficulty losing weight than those people who can control the amount of food they eat.

Medication: some medicines may cause weight gain. These medicines include some corticosteroids, antidepressants, and seizure medicines; these medicines can slow the rate at which your body burns calories, increase appetite or cause the body to hold extra water.


Some medical condition may also lead to weight gain and lead to obesity. Such as hypothyroidism; it is when the thyroid gland fails to produce enough thyroid hormone which often results in a lower metabolic rate and loss of vigor. Another medical condition is the Cushing's Syndrome; it’s a hormonal disorder caused by prolonged exposure of the body tissue to high levels of the hormone cortisol; symptoms include upper body obesity, a rounded face, increased fat around the neck, and thinning arms and legs. One more medical condition that results in obesity is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome which is a condition characterized by high level of androgens (male hormones), irregular or missed menstrual cycle and in some cases multiple small cysts on the ovaries.

 

References:

"Obesity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity>.

 

 "What is Obesity? What is BMI (Body Mass Index)?." Medical News Today: Health News. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/obesity/>.

 

"Obesity: MedlinePlus." National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/obesity.html>.

 

"Obesity.org." Obesity.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.obesity.org/>.

 

"Obesity - MayoClinic.com." Mayo Clinic. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314>.

 

subject. "International Journal of Obesity." Nature Publishing Group : science journals, jobs, and information. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.nature.com/ijo/index.html>.

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