Obesity is when a person is carrying too much body fat for their height and sex. A person is considered obese if they have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater.
Over time, eating excess calories leads to weight gain. Without lifestyle changes to increase the amount of physical activity done on a daily basis, or reduce the amount of calories consumed, people can become obese.
Today’s way of life is less physically active than it used to be. People travel on buses and cars, rather than walking, and many people work in offices, where they are sitting still for most of the day. This means that the calories they eat are not getting burnt off as energy. Instead, the extra calories are stored as fat.
How common is obesity?
The number of overweight and obese people is likely to increase. The Foresight report, a scientific report used to guide government policy, has predicted that by 2025, nearly half of men and over a third of women will be obese.
Outlook
Obesity can cause a number of health problems, such as type 2 diabetes (a condition caused by too much glucose in the blood), many types of cancer (when the body's cells begin to grow and reproduce in an uncontrollable way), and heart disease (when the heart’s blood supply is blocked).
Being overweight or obese can also shorten life expectancy (how long a person should live). In obese adults over 40 years of age, obesity can shorten life expectancy by 6-7 years.
Obesity is treated by losing weight, which can be achieved through a healthy, calorie-controlled diet and increased exercise. The lifestyle changes necessary for long-term weight loss can be challenging to achieve, but there is a wide range of support abvailable.
Drug treatments can be used to treat people who are obese but these should only be used when combined with a healthy diet, physical activity and support to help you change your lifestyle behaviours. You might experience side effects as a result of taking these drugs.
Surgery can be used to treat people who are severely obese and have tried other methods of weight loss with no success. There are a variety of techniques, although these do carry risks and may not be suitable for everyone.