Obesity is defined as a condition in which there is an accumulation of body fat in one’s body, resulting in adverse effects on their health. The basis for classifying people as obese is their body mass index, which is calculated by taking the person’s weight divided by the square of their height. If this value is above 30 kg/m2, then the person is labeled as obese, while values between twenty-five and thirty are seen as overweight. Nonetheless, in some countries, such as Asia, lower values are used when calculating obesity (Kanazawa et al., 2005).
Obesity is mainly caused by excessive food intake without physical exercise (Lau et al., 2007). According to a review that was conducted in 2016, an enormous appetite for foods with high-calorie amounts, particularly sugar and fats, was the main driver of obesity across the globe (Bojanowska & Closek, 2016). The reason for this was the imbalances in the neurotransmitters that were responsible for the urge to take food. Energy received from the diet also varies significantly among different countries and regions. There has also been significant change over time. Between the 1970s and 1990s, there was a substantial increase in the food energy available per person across the globe except for Eastern Europe. With this increase came a rise in the rates of obesity. There have been attempts to regulate this through dietary plans, but this has not borne fruit. The rates increased, such as an increase to 30.9% from 14.5% in the United States (Flegal et al., 2002). \The reason behind this was the underreporting of food consumption by obese people.
Another cause of obesity is a sedentary lifestyle. Across the globe, many people have shifted to jobs that demand less physical (Ness-Abramof, 2006). At the same time, only a small number of people can get sufficient exercise. The main reason for this is the increased preference for technology that saves on labor as well as the use of transportation that is mechanized. Physical activities among children have also significantly declined, particularly regarding physical education and walking. This has been attributed to inadequate urban designs, social interaction change, and safety concerns (Salmon, 2007). According to the World Health Organization, there are increasingly lower physical activities being undertaken by people. Also, television viewing and obesity have been correlated (Tucker & Bagwell, 1991). The more one watches television, the higher the risk of obesity.
Just like other medical conditions, obesity is caused by environmental factors and genetics (Alburquerque et al., 2017). Various genes experience polymorphisms that control the metabolism and appetite, resulting in obesity with enough food energy. The year 2006 witnessed the identification of forty-one of these sites on the genome of a human being that was linked with obesity development as long as the environment allowed. (Poirier et al., 2006). Depending on the population, the number of people having obese may vary from six to eighty-five percent.
The list of the causes of obesity is extensive and sees more items added by doctors daily. These include chemicals that disrupt the endocrine, endocrine disorders, economic policies, mental disorders, medications, genetic susceptibility, urbanization, and automation. Equally, obesity comes with many effects on the health of human beings. Some of these are as follows.
The first effect of obesity is mortality. According to Barness (2007), it is among the leading causes of death that can be prevented across the globe. Beyond a BMI of 20-25, there is a higher risk of mortality for people who do not smoke, while the risk goes higher for smokers (Aune et al., 2016). These values are essential for everyone except for Asians, who have a higher effect from 22kg/m3. According to Haslam & James (2005), obesity is responsible for about three hundred and sixty-five thousand deaths annually. The number gets even more significant in Europe, where one million people die each year.
Another health effect of obesity is morbidity in that the risk of getting many mental and physical conditions is increased when you are obese. A metabolic syndrome is primarily used in showing these comorbidities (Haslam & James, 2005). These medical disorders include high triglyceride levels, high blood cholesterol, and high blood pressure. A recent study by RAK Hospital also revealed that the risk of getting the coronavirus increased with obesity. There are direct and indirect complications from obesity, with the most vital link being type 2 diabetes. Of the people with diabetes, sixty-four percent of men had it because of obesity, while seventy-seven percent of women had it for the same reason. Among the illnesses that come from diabetes are fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis.
In conclusion, obesity is a condition that comes from excess accumulation of fats in one’s body. It is caused majorly by high-calorie food intake without physical exercise. Other causes of obesity include endocrine disorders, economic policies, mental disorders, medications, and genetic susceptibility, among others. The effects of obesity include morbidity, whereby there is an increase in the risk of psychological and physical conditions such as fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, etc. Obesity is also a leading cause of death in many countries across the globe. This is as explained above.
References
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