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The Effects Of Obesity

What is obesity? Obesity is an excessive large amount of total body fat. For a person to be considered obese he or she must weigh more than 20 % or more above the normal weight range. Even though there are many problems caused by obesity, these problems can be reversed.

The measurement of the total body weight they use what is called the body mass index or BMI. For people to be considered overweight their BMI will range from 25 to 29.9. For a person to be considered obese their BMI range is 30 or greater. For people whose BMI is greater than 50 they are considered morbid obese.

There is about 1.7 billion people worldwide that suffer from being over weight. There are about 3.8 million people in the United States that are over 300 pounds. There are about 400,000, mostly males, that are over 400 pounds. The growing number from 1962 to 2000 went from 13% up to an astonishing 31%. There are an approximate 63% overweight people with a BMI in excess of 25. There are an approximate 31% obese people with a BMI in excess of 30. Within the age range from 16 to 24 there are about 28% that are men and 27% that are women worldwide that are overweight. Within the age range of 55 to 64 there are about 76% men and 68% women that are overweight. Obesity causes about 300,000 deaths a year.

There is no one specific cause for obesity, but there are many factors that contribute to this epidemic. Some of the factors that contribute to being obese are genetic, metabolic disorders, hormonal imbalance, cultural, and environmental circumstances. Obesity is linked to many life threatening diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, sleep apnea, depression, and some cancers.

Recently scientists have discovered that genetics actually does play a role in the weight of a person. There are many genes in our bodies that are linked to the cause of obesity. These such disorders are known as...