Obesity: its causes, diagnosis, complications and treatment

June 29, 2022 by 

 

Obesity: its causes, diagnosis, complications and treatment

Obesity as a disease in which the body has an excessive amount of body fats. Obesity is a health problem that involves increasing the risk of other health problems. Such as heart problems, high blood pressure, cancer, and diabetes. We can also measure this problem as if the person has increased body mass index than normal. Adults with having BMI of 30 or more than 30 are obese. This is highly concerned with increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and cancers. It is very common in European countries. According to the centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 42.4 percent of 20 years old Americans are obese. Not only is BMI involved in increasing body mass but other different factors such as age, sex, and muscle mass are also involved.

 
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Classifying obesity:

These classifications are for adults having 20 years of age:

  • If a person having a BMI of 18.5 or less is underweight. 
  • If a person has a BMI of more than 18.5 and less than 25, then he will be considered normally weighted.
  • If a person has BMI lies between 25 to 30, in this condition, he will be considered obese.
  • If BMI extends these limits then that condition will be called morbid (extreme or severe obesity).

Child obesity:

When a doctor diagnoses it in a child who is over 2 years old or a teen then their BMI would be 95th percent of the people of their same age. So we can classify child obesity as:

  • A child less than 5% BMI would be considered underweight.
  • A child more than 5% to 85% of BMI would be considered normally weighted.
  • A Child having a BMI of 85% to <95% would be considered overweight.
  • BMI of more than 95% is obese.

Causes of obesity:

When we eat more calories than we need for our body on daily basis, we became obese. These extra calories are accumulated in our body and cause fat deposition which leads to weight gain. It is not just about having more calories. There are many other causes which include:

  • PCO (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome)
  • Pregnancy
  • Growing older
  • Not sleeping enough
  • Hypertension
  • High blood pressure
  • Cushing syndrome
  • Osteoarthritis

How we can diagnose it:

We can diagnose it by BMI but this is a rough calculation of obesity. There are many other ways to diagnose this problem including testing skin fold thickness, waist-to-hip comparison, and screening tests like CT scans, MRI scans, etc. 

 
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Its Complications:

Obesity can lead to many health complications. A high ratio of body fat can leads to putting strains on our bones and internal organs as well. This causes inflammation in the body and leads to cancer. It can also leads to Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol level, infertility, breathing problems, stroke, and arthritis. 

Treatment of obesity:

For treating this problem our first step is to consort a dietitian. A dietitian will suggest us a diet plan for managing our weight and overcoming obesity. Sometimes they also recommend weight-loss surgeries and medications.