Your weight has been important since the moment you were born. Most babies weigh less than 10 pounds and sometimes as little as 3 or 4 pounds. However, even the tiniest babies quickly gain weight, to their parents pleasure, because this means their baby is growing bigger and stronger.
These days, being overweight is becoming increasingly common. In fact, some overweight people are classified as being in the “fat gap”. This means that they are clinically overweight, yet society fails to see it as thus and therefore the individual assumes that they don’t have a problem.
In the last 30 or so years, the number of children and teenagers becoming overweight has spiraled out of control. Some statistics peg the number at a threefold increase since 1980. Today, one out of 3 children between the ages of 2 and 19 either suffer from obesity or being overweight.
Suffering from obesity and being overweight can contribute to chronic illnesses and health problems. This is in addition to a host of psychological problems that can occur from being teased for their weight or being unable to keep up with their friends on the playground.
The burden of the overweight population and those suffering from obesity stretches to everyone one of us. Obesity is quickly catching up with smoking as the number one cause of preventable illnesses.
Obesity and being overweight means that there is an accumulation of excess fat on the body. Someone suffering from obesity has a BMI of over 30.
Controlling Obesity
1. The safest and most effective way to stop being overweight and controlling your obesity is to eat less and exercise more.
2. Hormones and drugs that increase the “resting metabolic rate” (RMR) have been successfully used to control obesity and overweight issues.
3. Weight-reducing drugs. One type decreases appetite and the other prevents dietary fats from being absorbed by the body. These drugs should only be taken with doctor’s advice, but they are also effective ways of controlling obesity and overweight issues.
4. Surgery. Surgical techniques can be used in cases of extreme obesity, also known as morbid obesity. The most common operation is having your stomach “banded” or stapled to reduce the amount of food you are able to intake.
5. Enzymes. Researchers at UC-Berkeley have zeroed in on an enzyme that plays a key role in regulating metabolism and weight in mice and say a drug that inhibits this target could do the same for people. Disabling the enzyme in mice resulted in their being able to remain lean and healthy despite being on a high-fat diet.