In today's health-conscious era, phrases like "weight loss" and "fat loss" are frequently used interchangeably. As per 2022 statistics, 2.5 billion adults aged 18 and above are overweight, with 890 million suffering from obesity. This accounts for 43% of adults (43% men and 44% women), a significant increase from 1990 when only 25% of adults were overweight.
Health Risks of Overweight & Obesity
Pregnant people who have obesity may have a greater chance of developing gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, needing a cesarean delivery, and taking longer to recover after giving birth. Obesity increases the likelihood of developing heartburn, gallbladder disease, and liver problems. Having a large body size may increase blood pressure because your heart needs to pump harder to supply blood to all your cells. Excess fat may also damage your kidneys, which help regulate blood pressure. High blood pressure can strain your heart, damage blood vessels, and raise your risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, and death.
Breathing Problems
If you are overweight or obese, you may have more fat stored around your neck, making the airway smaller. A smaller airway can make breathing difficult or cause snoring. Sleep apnea is a common problem when your upper airway becomes blocked, causing you to breathe irregularly or even stop breathing altogether for short periods of time. Untreated sleep apnea may raise your risk of developing many health problems, including heart disease and diabetes.
Asthma
Obesity can increase your risk of developing asthma, experiencing worse symptoms, and having a harder time managing the condition.
Causes for weight gain
Numerous factors contribute to the risk of overweight and obesity. Some are individual factors like knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Others are in your environment, such as school, workplace, and neighborhood. Additionally, food industry practices and marketing as well as social and cultural norms and values can also impact your risk. Although we may not be able to change all of your risk factors for overweight or obesity. But knowing your risk is important to help you take steps to reach a healthy weight:
1. Lifestyle choices
- Lack of physical activity: Insufficient exercise contributes to weight gain, as it reduces the number of calories burnt daily, leading to an energy imbalance.
- Unhealthy eating behaviors: Consuming more calories than required, excessive saturated fat intake, and high added sugar consumption are associated with increased risk for overweight and obesity. Low usage and processed foods lead to water weight loss because these foods often have high sodium content, which can cause water retention. Reducing their intake can help in shedding excess water weight.
- Inadequate sleep and High stress levels: Poor-quality or insufficient sleep can impact hormones regulating hunger, such as ghrelin and leptin, increasing the likelihood of overeating and weight gain. Both short-term and long-term stress can trigger hormonal changes, such as increased cortisol levels, which may lead to overeating and weight gain.
2. Genetics
Specific genes, such as those identified in research (15 genes influencing obesity), can predispose individuals to heavier body weights, the amount of body fat you store, and where that fat is distributed. Genetics also may play a role in how efficiently your body converts food into energy, how your body regulates your appetite and how your body burns calories during exercise. Obesity tends to run in families. That's not just because of the genes they share. Family members also tend to share similar eating and activity habits.
3. Diseases and medications
- Medications: Some drugs, like antidepressants, antipsychotics, beta-blockers, birth control, glucocorticoids, and insulin, can cause weight gain by affecting hunger signals in the brain.
- Pre-existing conditions: Sometimes other medical conditions or medicines that you take may lead to overweight and obesity. Cushing's syndrome, caused by cortisol imbalance, Hypothyroidism, an inability to produce enough thyroid hormone and Polycystic ovary syndrome are some examples.