Obesity and Health

"It has been estimated that about 30% of American adults are now classified as
obese. That is quite a staggering number, and I have to admit I had no idea of
the seriousness in numbers until I read that. There's been a lot of talk lately
on new studies showing new factors in the apparent obesity epidemic, since
obesity causes so many deadly diseases, from heart conditions to cancer."

Obesity : The Health Link is Becoming Increasingly Apparent

Obesity and it's related health issues is a major concern to the medical field today, and researchers are
working hard to come up with the “obesity cure”. Not only that, but scientists seem increasingly baffled
over why obesity continues to be a problem that doesn't get better, but instead, seems to only get
increasingly worse as time goes on.

Obesity is classically defined as "the condition of being obese; increased body weight caused by
excessive accumulation of fat". More specifically though, individuals are considered clinically obese if they
are an adult male or female with a BMI (Body Mass Index, a body fat percentage measurement) of 30 or
higher.

Any adult with a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and not obese, and is still subject to
some of the health concerns associated with excess weight, but are not in as grave of danger as those
who are obese or morbidly obese. These categories are then further broken down based on the BMI, into
"overweight" and "overweight at risk". This of course, depends on the severity of the BMI imbalance, as
well as height, age, and overall health.

The health hazards and subsequent health issues associated with obesity are as follows :

Hypertension (high blood pressure)
Dyslipidemia, which has to do with healthy vs. unhealthy cholesterol
Diabetes
Thyroid Disease
Heart disease, heart attack
Gallbladder issues
Osteoarthritis
Sleep apnea and other respiratory (breathing) problems
*Increased risk of many different types of cancers
Stroke

* There has been more and more evidence piling up that many cancers are greatly influenced by our diet
and lifestyle, and risk is greatly increased when obesity is present. Recent studies show that obesity has
a closer association to breast cancer risk than originally thought, as well as prostate cancer for men.

Factors that researchers have come up with in the obesity epidemic have obviously primarily been linked
to poor diet and overconsumption of the wrong foods, but recently it was publicized that researchers are
now saying there are other contributing factors to obesity that had not previously been talked about as
possibilities. Another issue is that popular fad diets only give people temporary relief and often lead to
additional obesity problems by messing up metabolism even more.

Keep in mind, obesity is still primarily a weight problem that is associated with eating the wrong foods,
and having excess body fat due to excess calorie intake. These additional factors are just that - additional
factors in the obesity and overweight epidemic here in America these days.

They are not in any way saying they are the biggest factors, but rather they are smaller "supplemental" and
more overlooked factors, if you will, why Americans are becoming more overweight and obese as time
goes on.

Some call these ideas far fetched, and an excuse to ignore the obvious reason for the increase in obesity,
which is that people are eating too many calories, and not being physically active enough. I tend to agree
with that assessment, but it's hard to also ignore that the changing times also present various factors that
can contribute to the upward weight trend.

Additional Overlooked Factors in Obesity and Excess Weight :

1.) Increase in Air and Environmental Pollutions - This is said to cause a hormonal imbalance, which can
force the body to store more fat.

2.) Birth-control pills - There has been an increase in the amount of women taking birth control pills in the
past ten to twenty years, and some birth control pills arguably cause women to gain weight more easily.

3.) Air conditioners & Controlled Temperature - Air Conditioners and heaters tend to make it easier for our
bodies to regulate their temperature, which means we burn less calories. When we have to work to keep
our bodies cool, or work to keep our bodies warm, we burn more calories. Also, in the heat and humidity,
we tend to be less hungry.

4.) Smoking - The decrease in overall smokers may also have something to do with weight increases,
since smoking typically causes a person to lose weight. This one is really far fetched, I think.

5.) Sleep Deprivation - Not getting enough sleep, and downright sleep deprivation can cause increased
appetite and decreased metabolism.

6.) Kids Born to Older Mothers - They are said to be "genetically set up" to be overweight. Whatever that
means. This one also sounds like a stretch to me.

7.) Less Women Breast Feeding - This has been implicated in only a few studies, although the actual link
to obesity is not clear.

8.) Eating Meat and Dairy with Hormones - This is another "theory", that added hormones to our meats
and dairy products are causing hormonal imbalances, which cause our metabolisms to go into a state of
flux as well as cause our bodies to store extra fat.