Obesity: Causes, Effects, And Treatment

Obesity is a condition where one’s body weight is above the ratio than it should be. Most of the time, it is measured using the measurement of Body Mass Index(BMI). This condition is considered to be unhealthy and is the underlying cause of many life-threatening diseases. Do you think you are obese? Or do you want to avoid being obese? Read further to know the causes and effects of obesity. Also, find treatment measures for the condition.

Causes

Overeating:

The most prominent reason for obesity is overeating. An uncontrolled diet can cause you to put up weight. High-calorie diets which are unbalanced are the main reasons for obesity. Artificially sweetened drinks and products like cola add to calories. Also, a high intake of processed food items like chips leads to obesity. Overeating is the primary cause of obesity, especially in children.

Reduced Physical Activity:

Along with overeating, lack of proper exercise or physical activity increases the Risk of Obesity. The extra calories in your body are supposed to be burned out, and physical activity is supposed to do the work. Sitting down for a long time or sleeping for a long time leads to obesity. Exercise is supposed to maintain body weight.

Genetics:

Overweight can be due to genetic influences. You are prone to be obese if any of your parents or other relatives are obese. Sometimes, the condition may be dormant in previous generations, but the gene will manifest at a later age. When genetics combines with other factors, an individual is more at risk of obesity.

Medications:

Sometimes, your overweight condition may be caused by some of the medicines you take. Drugs such as antidepressants are known to have side effects like weight gain. They may reduce the metabolic activity in your body leading to weight gain.

Hormonal Imbalance:

When there is an imbalance in the release of hormones like Thyroxine or Leptin leads to weight imbalance, including weight gain. This may be due to underlying diseases like hypothyroidism.

Women are more prone to overweight due to hormone imbalance.

Effects

Obesity is known to have a significant impact on the daily life of an individual. Apart from social embarrassment like body shape, the individual’s health is severely affected. Even though body-shaming is not a reason to seek treatment for obesity, health reasons are surely a reason. Some of the health effects of obesity:

Obesity can cause some types of cancers like endometrial and liver cancer.

Obesity can cause hypertension or high blood pressure.

The above condition may lead to coronary heart diseases.

Obesity is one of the crucial reasons for Types 2 diabetes. Diabetes in children is also rising due to obesity.

Obesity can also cause mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.

Other health conditions involve sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gall bladder diseases, the risk for stroke, etc.

Treatment

Even though factors like genetics are not under one’s control, other factors like diet can be regulated to cure obesity. Some of the treatment measures for obesity are:

Take up a well-balanced diet and cut down on calories. Avoid processed and sweetened food items.

Another measure is to stop being a couch potato and taking up exercise. Physical activity can cut help you burn the extra calories.

Behavioral therapy can also help you make lifestyle changes, which will help to cure the condition.

Prescription medications for weight loss can help even though it is less preferred.

Prevention is always better than treatment. So, it is better to have a healthy lifestyle to avoid obesity.