OBESITY -Meaning, 13 causes, and symptoms

Obesity: This is a health condition in which the body fat is in excess. It

occurs when a person’s body mass index (BMI) is 30 or more than 30. BMI is the calculation of a person’s body size using his or her weight and height.

Obesity can be classified thus according to BMI: For people whose BMI is between 30.0 to 34.9, they are rated 1st class obesity. People with BMI ranging from 35.0 to 39.9, are rated 2nd class obesity, people whose BMI is above 40.0 are rated 3rd class obesity which is also known as morbid/extreme /severe obesity.

Causes of Obesity

Obesity happens when we take in calories more than we burn calories in our daily activities. In addition to that, the following are other contributing factors:

• Personal diet

• Genetic factor

• Environmental factors

• Exercise

• Sleep

• Pregnancy

• Quitting smoking

• Stress

• Past struggle to lose weight

• Microbiomes

• Medication

• Age

Personal diet: Our diet is said to be unhealthy if it lacks fruits and vegetables and is rather filled with Beverages with high calories.

Genetic factors: Our gene determines how our body absorbs, distributes, stores, and burns up fat. That is why obesity tends to run in families.

Environmental factors: It is difficult to avoid obesity if the environment we live in does not have secure places for work-out or exercise. Also, if we live or interact with obsessed people we are likely to develop obesity.

Exercise: Exercise is one way we burn calories daily thus regulating the number of calories in our body even if we had a high intake of it. When we don’t exercise, the calories we built up through food will find it difficult to digest thus leading to weight gain or obesity.

Sleep: Lack of sleep or too much sleep causes hormonal changes which in turn increases a person’s appetite. Thus, a person might desire food with higher calories which in turn causes weight gain.

Pregnancy: During pregnancy, gaining weight is common. After some women give birth, they find it difficult to lose the weight they gained during pregnancy. Breastfeeding can be very helpful to lose weight gained during pregnancy.

Quit smoking: When people try to quit smoking, they tend to replace smoking with eating to help them cope and as such, they risk obesity. Despite that, quitting smoking is still of greater health benefit. When trying to quit smoking, it’s good we meet our doctors as they can help us prevent weight gain associated with quitting smoking.

Stress:

During stressful times, people more likely to turn to high-calorie food.

Past struggles to lose weight: This can also be called yo-yo dieting. It occurs when one has in the past tried to lose weight and after some time rapidly gained weight

Microbiomes: Bacteria affect what we eat and could contribute to difficulty in losing weight or even cause us to gain weight.

Age: Anyone can suffer from Obesity. But as one ages, a lifestyle decreases hence increasing the risk of obesity. It has also been noted that as we age our muscle mass reduces hence reducing the metabolic activities in the body.