Related topics: body mass index
Obesity
hideObesity is 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. Body mass index (BMI), which compares weight and height, is used to define a person as overweight (pre-obese) when their BMI is between 25 kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2 and obese when it is greater than 30 kg/m2.
Obesity is associated with many diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties during sleep, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive dietary calories, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility, though a limited number of cases are due solely to genetics, medical reasons or psychiatric illness.
The primary treatment for obesity is dieting and physical exercise. If this fails, anti-obesity drugs may be taken to reduce appetite or inhibit fat absorption. In severe cases, surgery is performed or an intragastric balloon is placed to reduce stomach volume and or bowel length, leading to earlier satiation and reduced ability to absorb nutrients from food.
Obesity is a leading preventable cause of death worldwide, with increasing prevalence in adults and children, and authorities view it as one of the most serious public health problems of the 21st century. Obesity is stigmatized in the modern Western world, though it has been perceived as a symbol of wealth and fertility at other times in history, and still is in many parts of Africa.
For more information about Obesity, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with obesity
US survey shows southern counties most obese
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The first county-by-county survey of obesity reflects past studies that show the rate of obesity is highest in the Southeast and Appalachia.
Increased obesity hindering success at reducing heart disease risk
Nov 17, 2009 |
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The dramatic increase in overweight and obesity in adult Americans over the past 20 years has undermined public health success at reducing risk for heart disease, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's ...
Good food nation: Researchers think America's obesity epidemic can be reversed via 'foodsheds'
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In the last three decades, childhood obesity in the United States has become a massive public-health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 1980 and 2006 the percentage ...
Size matters: Obesity leading risk factor of left atrial enlargement during aging
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Aside from aging itself, obesity appears to be the most powerful predictor of left atrial enlargement (LAE), upping one's risk of atrial fibrillation (the most common type of arrhythmia), stroke and death, according to findings ...
Mood improves on low-fat, but not low-carb, diet plan
Nov 09, 2009 |
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After one year, a low-calorie, low-fat diet appears more beneficial to dieters' mood than a low-carbohydrate plan with the same number of calories, according to a report in the November 9 issue of Archives of Internal Me ...
Teenage obesity linked to increased risk of MS
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Teenage women who are obese may be more than twice as likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) as adults compared to female teens who are not obese, according to a study published in the November 10, 2009, print issue of ...
Path to good health, less pollution is the sidewalk: report
Nov 09, 2009 |
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US pressure groups joined forces Monday to urge authorities to spend more to improve Americans' health and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Obesity causes 100,000 US cancers every year: study
Nov 06, 2009 |
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Obesity causes more than 100,000 incidents of cancer in the US every year, the American Institute for Cancer Research said in estimates published Friday.
Physical education key to improving health in low-income adolescents
Nov 05, 2009 |
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School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco ...
Obesity significantly cuts odds of successful pregnancy
Nov 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Obese women are as much as 28 percent less likely to become pregnant and have a successful pregnancy, according to research that earned a Michigan State University professor a national award.
For dialysis patients, skinny is dangerous
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Dialysis patients with low body fat are at increased risk of death—even compared to patients at the highest level of body fat percentage, according to research being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd ...
Researchers identify the 3 killer indicators that are even worse than high cholesterol
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Researchers at the University of Warwick have identified a particular combination of health problems that can double the risk of heart attack and cause a three-fold increase in the risk of mortality.
Decrease in physical activity may not be a factor in increased obesity rates among adolescents
Nov 02, 2009 |
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Decreased physical activity may have little to do with the recent spike in obesity rates among U.S. adolescents, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
High fructose corn syrup: A recipe for hypertension
Oct 30, 2009 |
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A diet high in fructose increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San ...
Scientists seek origins of obesity in the womb
Oct 23, 2009 |
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(AP) -- When Kathy Perusse had weight-loss surgery and shed 120 pounds, she may have done more than make her own life easier.
