According to the data of WHO (World Health Organization) there are currently 2 billion obese people on Earth. More than half of Europe’s adult population is overweight or obese. Among all European countries, Hungary is the leading one in terms of overweight percentage. Primarily, cardiovascular and oncologic diseases are responsible for the 75% of overall deaths.
These diseases are all connected to improper diet and lifestyle.
Obesity can be seen as a chronic disease and can be characterized by an excess amount of the fatty tissue piling up in the human body. In practice, it can be characterized by the Body Mass Index (BMI).
Calculating BMI:
the body mass is divided by the square of the body height (kg/square meter). In case of adults (>18 years) we talk about obesity when their BMI exceeds 30 kg/square meters. Extra weight is diagnosed between 25-29,9 kg/square meters.
THE REAL REASON BEHIND OBESITY
The main point of obesity is the chronic fat accumulation in the body system. Many consider it only as a problem of aesthetic, but in reality it is a chronic condition that endangers health condition and increases the risk of several serious illnesses.
Main reason of putting on excess weight is that people consume more calories than their body actually needs. The body then stores the extra nutriments in the form of fat tissue.
Regular high calorie intake increases our body mass. Foods with high fat content are generally high in calories as well. Excess calories are most common in food rich in carbohydrates, fizzy drinks, sweets and pastries.
WHAT RISK FACTORS SHOULD BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT?
Biological, behavioural and environmental factors are all interfering with the process of energy balance and fat tissue storage. High calorie density diet, inactive lifestyle and eating disorders are all risk factors of obesity.
In Europe, obesity rate among men is 10-25%, while it is between 10-30% for women. In the last decade, the number of obese people increased by 10-40% in most European countries. In most of the countries, overweight and obesity exceeds 50%.
From 36 examined countries where both genders were taken into account, only in 14 was obesity more common among men. However, appearance of excess body weight was more present for men in 36 countries.
Today, we differentiate between two types based on division of fat tissues:
Apple-shaped body: Fat accumulates around the stomach, breast, neck and face. The centre of chronic weight gain is the area of the belly button.
Pear-shaped body: the centre of weight gain is the lower belly, between belly button and the pubic bone. In this case, excess weight is more defining on the lower belly, bottom and thighs. The upper body, arms and face are less likely to be involve
PRINCIPALS FOR TREATING OBESITY
It is very important to come up with a down-to-earth goal when we start losing weight. Like that, we can avoid the risk of developing obesity related diseases. In order to prevent gaining back extra weight, we need to plan ahead and create a programme that helps to maintain the healthy weight in the long run.
Obesity is a chronic disease, thus its treatment must last a lifetime. Treating obesity means a lot more than getting rid of excess body weight.
The main goal of the treatment is to increase the general health condition, realising risk factors and treating complications. By altering the diet, increasing physical activity and reaching a fit level, the above mentioned goals can be reached even with smaller weight loss.
ADDITIONAL THINGS TO DO FOR SUCCESFULL WEIGHT LOSS
Physio therapy plays a fundamental role in obesity treatment. Apart from the fact, that it supports weight loss combined with limited calorie intake, it also has a good effect on the general health condition.
One must pay attention to mental difficulties that endanger successful weight loss, such as depression. Mental support for obese people is highly important. In some cases (depression, high-level stress cases) involving a psychiatric or psychologist is necessary. Based on previous experiences, support groups for obese people can have a good effect on the process of weight loss.
WEIGHT LOSS BY SURGERY
Obesity treatment involving surgery provides the best results in the long term. It reduces the occurrence of related diseases, improves life quality and helps people to live a healthier life.
Obesity treatment is unsuccessful in many cases. It results in people (who want to lose weight fast) trying out products with a medically not justified effect. Effectiveness of various herbs, homeopathic medicine and diet supplements is not justified. We must warn patients to only use products that have effective results during their diet.
Treating obesity with the help of surgery, bariatric surgery, is a rapidly growing surgical field. The two most commonly used methods are gastric sleeve and gastric bypass surgeries. The surgery is carried out by equipment led to the gastric, through little cuts taken by a laparoscope.
Apart from reducing excess body weight, it also helps to reduce other serious, obesity related diseases and the chance of developing several tumours.
