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
Persistent pollutant may promote obesity
Dec 01, 2008 |
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Tributyltin, a ubiquitous pollutant that has a potent effect on gene activity, could be promoting obesity, according to an article in the December issue of BioScience. The chemical is used in antifouling paints for boats, ...
Type 2 Diabetes Rears Its Ugly Head Long Before Diagnosis
May 14, 2009 |
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Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes can present themselves as long as 10 years before diagnosis and most people have no idea before the damage is done.
Yes, that soda will make you fat
Sep 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- While health officials have long suspected the link between obesity and soda consumption, research released today provides the first scientific evidence of the potent role soda and other sugar-sweetened ...
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 ...
How much are you really exercising?
Oct 04, 2008 |
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People struggling with obesity often underestimate how many calories they are actually consuming, which can hinder weight loss efforts. It should follow that the same person would overestimate the amount of exercise they're ...
Researchers: Ban on fast food TV advertising would reverse childhood obesity trends
Nov 19, 2008 |
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A ban on fast food advertisements in the United States could reduce the number of overweight children by as much as 18 percent, according to a new study being published this month in the Journal of Law and Economics. The s ...
Probiotics may be able to help you keep slim
May 05, 2009 |
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Researchers from LIFE - Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen are working on a promising research project that seems to indicate that probiotics have a slimming effect.
Increased food intake alone explains the increase in body weight in the US
May 08, 2009 |
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New research that uses an innovative approach to study, for the first time, the relative contributions of food and exercise habits to the development of the obesity epidemic has concluded that the rise in obesity in the United ...
Scientists identify stomach’s timekeepers of hunger
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Aug 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New York collaborators at Columbia and Rockefeller Universities have identified cells in the stomach that time the release of a hormone that makes animals anticipate food and eat even when they are not hungry. ...
Six new genes suggest obesity is in your head, not your gut
Dec 14, 2008 |
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Is obesity all in your head? New research suggests that genes that predispose people to obesity act in the brain and that perhaps some people are simply hardwired to overeat.
Childhood ear infections may predispose to obesity later in life
Aug 20, 2008 |
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Researchers are reporting new evidence of a possible link between a history of moderate to severe middle ear infections in childhood and a tendency to be overweight later in life. Their study suggests that prompt diagnosis ...
Late-Night Snacks: Worse Than You Think
Sep 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Eat less, exercise more. Now there is new evidence to support adding another "must" to the weight-loss mantra: eat at the right time of day.
Love handles put the squeeze on lungs
Mar 06, 2009 |
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There's more bad news for people who carry excess weight around their waists: Not only is abdominal obesity associated with diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and a host of other health problems collectively known ...
Sugar cereals are 'Smart Choices'? FDA not so sure
Oct 21, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Ever wondered how that "Smart Choices" sticker wound up on the front of Froot Loops or Cocoa Puffs?
Study sheds new light on why breast-fed babies grow more slowly
Apr 23, 2009 |
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Breast-fed babies grow more slowly than formula-fed babies, which is why new growth charts, based solely on the growth patterns of breast fed babies, are being introduced in the UK in May. This slower pattern of growth in ...
