Obesity: Obesity and Body Mass Index Essay

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Obesity is a chronic state of being overweight. It's a life threatening condition and recent research has shown that obesity is the leading cause for the increased health risks that individuals of the developed world face. Obesity increases a person's risk for contracting diabetes, heart problems, strokes, certain kinds of cancer etc. What's worse is the over two thirds of the industrialized world's population is suffering from obesity and that's putting them in greater health dangers.
Formerly, everyone thought the best way to lose weight was to diet it off for a few days and then go back to your daily routine. Another theory was to live on fruits and vegetables and avoid all fats like the plague. But this approach gave birth to the ‘yo-yo' dieters.

Health experts are now of the opinion that it would be best to have healthy lifestyle habits that incorporate both a balanced diet as well as an exercise routine. These lead a person to develop a naturally healthy body with a faster metabolism and stronger immune system.

Obesity is a term used to describe somebody who is very overweight with a high degree of body fat.
There are a number of ways a person’s weight can be assessed. The most widely used method is the body mass index.
The body mass index (BMI) is your weight in kilograms divided by your height in metres squared. You can use the NHS Choices’ BMI healthy weight calculator to work out your own BMI. * * * if your BMI is between 25 and 29, you would be considered overweight * if your BMI is between 30 and 40, you would be considered obese * if your BMI is over 40, you would be considered very obese (known as ‘morbidly obese’)

The risks of obesity
Being obese increases your risk of developing a number of serious and potentially life-threatening diseases such as: * type 2 diabetes * heart disease * some types of cancer, such as breast cancerand colon cancer stroke
In addition, obesity can damage your quality of life and can often trigger depression.

The cause of most cases of obesity is the person eats more calories than they burn off and the unused calories are turned into fat. Modern lifestyle does not help: * there is easy access to cheap, high-energy food that is often aggressively marketed to people * people’s lifestyles and jobs are much less active than in the past and many leisure activities such as watching television, playing video games and browsing the internet are usually done sitting down * people drive or use public transport and walk a lot less than they used to
There are also a number of conditions that can cause weight gain, such as polycystic ovary syndr

Who is affected
A survey published in 2012 found that just over a quarter of all adults (26%) in England are obese.
Obesity is also an increasing problem in children, with around 1 out of 7 children being classified as obese

It’s the latest Government initiative to tackle the increasing obesity crisis in the UK, which costs the NHS around £4 billion a year. Britain is fast becoming one of the world’s laziest nations and experts hope making us more aware of the levels of unhealthy fats, salt and sugar in our food will help curb our expanding waistlines.

It’s recommended that we do 30 minutes of moderate activity (such as brisk walking) five days a week or 20 minutes of vigorous activity at least three days a week.
Two thirds (63.3 per cent) of adults in the UK are not doing this, making us the third laziest country in Europe after Malta (71.9 per cent) and Serbia (68.3 per cent).

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems.
[1][2] People are considered obese when their body mass index (BMI), a measurement obtained by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of the person's height in metres, exceeds 30
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