Obesity

By: Melissa Morin, MS, CPT

Obesity is becoming increasingly prevalent in the United States. Today, 64.5 percent of adult Americans are categorized as being overweight or obese. Each year, obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths in the U.S., and healthcare costs of American adults with obesity amount to approximately $100 billion (AOA). There are many factors that impact a person's health risk relative to their degree of obesity such as a waist size, smoking, the types of foods someone eats regularly, exercise, and medical conditions associated with obesity including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and coronary heart disease.

The American Obesity Association believes that obesity is a disease. Obesity related illnesses include type II diabetes, hypertension, lipid disorders, coronary heart disease, carpal tunnel syndrome and certain cancers, such as breast, endometrial, prostate, and colon. Obesity is often considered to be the product of inactivity and over-eating. Despite evidence to the contrary, many people view obesity as a lack of willpower on the part of the individual. However, with further study and understanding of obesity, we fail to consider more complex issues of this disease such as metabolism and/or family history.

Diet and exercise can be a good start to putting an end to your obesity. If you have a BMI over 30 and are at least 75 pounds overweight, you could be putting yourself at risk for complicated chronic illnesses such as those previously mentioned. With the right combination of positive lifestyle changes, you can lose weight, increase your lean body mass, and lessen the health risks of the extra body weight you are carrying.