Obesity and being overweight

Globally, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults, and at least 300 million of them suffer from obesity. Both have reached epidemic proportions worldwide and both are major contributors to the global burden of chronic diseases and disabilities.

Obesity rates have skyrocketed since the 1980′s, up to three-fold in certain areas of the U.S. along with other industrialized nations, but it is also increasing exponentially in developing nations.

Why is driving the obesity and overweight epidemic?

The obesity epidemic reflects profound changes in society and in the behavioral patterns of society over recent decades. While genes are important in determining the proclivity of weight gain, it is dictated mostly by the energy balance between calorie intake and physical activity. Economic growth, modernization, urbanization, and globalization of the food industry is a major driving force behind the overweight and obesity epidemic. At the same time, there has been a movement towards less physically demanding work complemented by the use of automated transportation, time-consuming telecommunications technology in the home, and the pursuit of more leisurely past times. All of the above are factors in combating obesity and being overweight.

How bad is the problem?

Currently, there are more than 1 billion overweight adults. 300 million of them are clinically obese. Obesity levels range from below 5% in China, Japan, and some African nations, to over 75% in urban Samoa. But even in the lower spectrum of obesity, such as China, some cities boast obesity rates of over 20%.

Childhood obesity is also a driving factor. Worldwide, up to 22 million children under five are overweight. In the USA, according to the Surgeon General, the number of overweight children has doubled and the number of overweight adolescents has tripled since 1980.

Obesity accounts for 2-6% of total health care costs in several developed countries. The true costs are probably much greater as not all obesity-related conditions are calculated.

What can we do about it?

Prevention, weight loss and weight maintenance are the most important long-term strategies for fighting obesity. Other key elements include:

1. Creating a supportive environment through public policies and personal goals that promote the intake of a variety of low-fat, high-fiber foods, and opportunities for physical activity. (No more sitting on the bench for an entire phys-ed class.)

2. Promoting healthy behaviors to encourage, motivate, and enable individuals to lose weight, namely, through a better diet.

3. Mounting a clinical response to the existing burden of obesity and associated conditions by lawmakers and health care providers to ensure effective support and prevention for those most prone to becoming overweight.

Overweight

Obesity is a preventable disease of excess body fat. Extremely overweight individuals, those with a BMI of over 50, are relegated to the section of Class III obesity, or super obesity, which was also termed malignant obesity. 60 BMI and greater is classified as super-super obesity.

Typically, given a standard deviation of height, the actual weight of people with super obesity exceeds their ideal weight by about 225%, or approximately 200-plus pounds overweight. In comparison, being a few percent overweight may actually have some long-term benefits while being 20 percent or more above ideal weight is where negative weight-related. Being a few pounds overweight has been found to be the weight group with the best quality of life and longevity in old age. The benefits of being overweight are attributed to a higher resistance to diseases and illnesses in addition to the increased resilience against fractures and broken bones.

In the United States, a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that the number people categorized under super obesity had quintupled from 1986 to 2000. In 1986, one out of every 200 of the population was categorized under super obesity, in 200 that number was one in 50.

The number of people under the category of super obesity actually increased at twice the rate than the rise in normal obesity. Roland Sturm of the RAND Corporation, and chief author of the study, had this to say, “As the whole population shifts to the right [becomes heavier], the extreme categories grow the fastest. The traditional clinical approach of targeting high risk cases is only temporary and palliative in this situation, but cannot stem the trend.”

Waistlines, and obesity and overweight, is expanding in every country in the developed world. Consider this, seats in airplanes, movie theaters, and cars, especially American ones, have been steadily widened over the past half century to accommodate overweight and burgeoning bottoms. In addition, cup holders in cars and movie theaters have been made to fit unnecessarily large beverages. Usually, the only things that come in sizes so big are soft drinks from fast food vendors and convenience stores.

With overweight and various levels of obesity afflicting such an enormous number of people, super-sized coffin makers are reporting that business is brisk with demand on the rise.

Although most obesity and overweight treatment options will suggest exercise and diet, patients should realize that the primary goal of a new lifestyle is not to lose weight, but to improve their health.