Obesity

Being Overweight

We all know that obesity and being overweight contribute to an ever-increasing list of chronic illnesses. According to some studies, obesity and being overweight is quickly catching up to smoking as the number one cause of preventable chronic illnesses. It causes diabetes in young children and leads to lethargic lifestyles. Obesity and being overweight is overwhelming our health care budget. Some see it as a personal issue while others blame social and environmental factors. Any way you look at it, obesity and being overweight has become a focal point for concern.

But what if it’s not that big of a deal?

Take the case of Mary Anne Ferguson, a 58-year-old grandma. Today, she’s lifting weights at the YMCA, hoping to buy herself another 25 years.

“I want to live well into my 80′s or longer,” said the high-spirited grandma.

But Mary Anne stands only 5 foot 6 inches and weighs 186 pounds.

According to doctors’ charts, Mary Anne is actually just a smidgen away from suffering from clinically obesity and is certainly overweight. In addition, her cholesterol is high and her doctor is worried. Mary Anne is worried. But recent studies have claimed that we may worry too much. Take for instance these headlines in Newsweek and Globe and Mail, respectively, “You can be fat and healthy at the same time” or “Get Fat, Live Longer.”

Excuse me? Doesn’t this goes against all the common assumptions of obesity and being overweight.

According to David Feeney at the Kaiser Center for Health Research in Portland, “One of the things that happens as many people age, is that they start to lose weight and they are at risk of becoming very frail.”

He conducted a 12 year study on 11,000 Canadians and found that people who were overweight lived the longest, especially those over 60. So it’s actually riskier to be underweight in old age. You don’t want to be skin and bones when you get older, focusing on just mortality and disease statistics neglects several obvious downsides of being old and underweight. Frailty is a major issue and resilience seems to falter with weight as well.

This doesn’t mean you should sell your treadmill and relegate yourself to the couch during off-hours. Exercise in curbing complications associated with obesity and being overweight is still the best route to go, even if you don’t seem to be making any progress with your weight. In fact, studies show that compared to a normal weight couch potato, someone suffering from obesity or is overweight and walks for 150 minutes a week has a 50% lower risk of death. Exercise is truly a super-drug.

The following are some common complications associated with obesity and being overweight and all of them can be curbed with a steady work out routine.

1. Heart Disease – The most common and devastating side effect of obesity or being overweight.
2. Diabetes – Associated with the poor diet habits that cause obesity or one being overweight.
3. Sleep Apnea – A condition where you stop breathing, causing you to wake up suddenly
4. Respiratory problems – Similar to reasons for heart disease, the lungs are overworked in order to provide more oxygen where it needs to be faster. Plus, conditions such as high cholesterol in the arteries can make it harder for oxygen to move freely through your system.
5. Arthritis – A condition common to obesity and being overweight because of the added stress on joints.