Obesity has become a prevalent issue in recent years, but what exactly is it? Obesity is defined by the Mayo Clinic as "an excessive amount of body fat." However, this definition is ambiguous and doesn't clarify how much fat is normal and what is too much. There exist a number of measurements for obesity, the most common of which is the Body Mass Index (BMI). The secret to BMI's popularity is its simplicity, all you need to know is your weight and height (BMI= weight (kg)/ height (m) squared). It is a simple ratio of your weight distributed over your given height.
In most cases, the BMI appropriately serves its purpose of indicating body fat levels. However, the BMI is simply a guess as to where the weight is coming from and therefore the BMI is inaccurate in cases where body weight is due to something other than fat, such as muscle (athletes) or water (renal pathologies), etc. In these cases more definitive tests for measuring body fat are needed, such as skin thickness measurements, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, underwater weighing, etc. Aside from these exceptions, the BMI defines a score of above 25 as overweight and above 30 as obese.
The following video is a nice introduction to obesity (The beginning of a 7 part series by the University of California, feel free to watch the other parts on YouTube):
So, we know we are all getting fatter, but why?
Is it because of food abundance in developed nations? but why is it prevalent in developing countries with food shortages?
Is it due to the rise of Fast Foods? but obesity has been present for thousands of years.
Is it due to genetics? but we can't all have the same genes.
Are Fat-Free foods a solution? even when they have the same calories as the regular product?
Is it inflammation? Adipose tissue is thought to be an immune organ. Are we suffering from chronic inflammation? (Inflammation in obesity-related diseases by Robert O'Rourke).
Is it our environment (Pollution, toxins, etc)? what about childhood obesity?
Is it our lifestyle of stress? but not every obese person is stressed.
Can we treat obesity without knowing the cause behind it?
How about curing it?
Feel Free to provide comments, viewpoints, questions, or anything else.
For additional information and reference to this information please visit : http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/index.html
obesity.org
As you mentioned above,all these things such as genetics,environment,stress,life style and etc are influencing obesity in different ways.Some are more effective than the others. There are so much controversy about this subject but as of today there are some easy ways that we at least can prevent obesity by using some factors in our life such as eating right(using less sugar,fat and using more organic foods),doing more physical activities and having less stress, but for sure even just by knowing these important factors and fallowing them in our life style we can’t cure obesity, we actually have to know the real cause behind it.
ReplyDeleteIt’s not all about calories and stuff that we eat.We can’t completely avoid eating fatty foods or food with high sugar amount and be expected to be skinny. As a normal human being our body needs all different source of food and vitamins,even fat and sugar.So the real question is how can we eat enough of everything but not getting fat?How much is the right amount?
You focus on a lot of great points! The best advise a dietition can give is to eat a balanced meal. Which means that you should have your fat and sugar but in an amount which does not dominate or take over the other parts of the meal. There are numerous dietary guidelines to a proper diet and for an average adult that means 2000 kcal coming from 70% carbohydrates, 20% protein, and 10% fat. Moreover, we have shifted from a dominant herbivore to carnivore diet and in the process lost intake of many essential and nonessial vitamins/minerals from plants as well as phytochemicals present in these foods whose effects remain to be studied. Therefore, I don't believe that the problem lies in finding the right diet, but rather in getting someone to make a drastic lifestyle change. You can't expect someone to easily start eating healthy after a lifestyle of fast food/junk food. However, in accordance to my original idea, diet is relevant but not the only factor and eating healthy can only help you so much. In addition, diet changes won't have the same extent of effects on everyone. One thing I would like to mention about organic foods. They get a bit too much hype nowadays, but scientific evidence has not shown them to be significantly healthier than their nonorganic counterparts. Not to mention at twice the cost.
DeleteHello, Muhammad. I have decided to list out the questions and provide an answer for each.
ReplyDeleteIs it because of food abundance in developed nations? but why is it prevalent in developing countries with food shortages?
Some individuals can state that food abundance in developed nations do have a role in the incidences of obesity in the United States, England, and other developed nations. However, other nations, particularly island nations such as Tonga, are
Is it due to the rise of Fast Foods? but obesity has been present for thousands of years.
Fast food is certainly an aggravating factor in the incidence of diabetes. Obesity can be associated with just too much input, too little output. Other considerations can be genetic or endocrinological, as endocrinological pathologies are associated with an incidence of obesity, as well as hormonal drugs.
Is it due to genetics? but we can't all have the same genes.
Yes and no. Obesity (through the ob gene) can occur as a phenotypic trait. However, penetrance is also incomplete. In layman term, not everyone who has the gene is obese.
Are Fat-Free foods a solution? even when they have the same calories as the regular product?
Some may say fat-free foods and cholesterol medications is considered a solution and preventive measure for obesity, but it may also require exercise and discipline. For example, look at the French paradox. The French pretty much violated every rule in the book of "healthiness", but somehow live longer than Americans, but still short of the Japanese.
Is it inflammation? Adipose tissue is thought to be an immune organ. Are we suffering from chronic inflammation? (Inflammation in obesity-related diseases by Robert O'Rourke).
Well, yes. The body still recruits cytokines and adipokines that give off negative and positive effects to reduce the population of adipocytes.
Is it our environment (Pollution, toxins, etc)? what about childhood obesity?
Society cannot continue to blame the things around them for their problems. However, it is known that the sedentary lifestyle and poor choices are associated with obesity. It is also known that smoking cessation is also associated with weight gain, if not obesity.
Is it our lifestyle of stress? but not every obese person is stressed.
Not really, but stress is associated with coping mechanisms, and some coping mechanisms are healthy (such as exercise) and others are unhealthy (like binge eating). Chronic stress, however, can overwhelm the body and set it right for degenerative diseases such as diabetes as well as cardiovascular problems.
Can we treat obesity without knowing the cause behind it?
We can, based on the information we got, but the approaches are ripe with complications. One issue is mainly patient compliance. We can lead a horse to water, but we cannot make it drink. Patients often won't even obey an order to exercise daily, replace an apple over a donut, or even take a pill once a day. Governments have placed bike paths, hiking trails, and exercise stops all over the place, but nobody really uses it.
How about curing it?
Curing it is through health management and lifestyle modification, but people still prefer pills and surgeries over treadmills. The cure is simply increasing output and suppressing input, but even then problems arise.
Hi Alex,
DeleteThe multiple questions were to get people thinking and hint towards obesity being caused by a multitude of factors not just one. Although I do like that you answered each one and provide the following comments:
On fat free foods, I don't think cholesterol drugs are meant for obesity but rather heart disease. Additionally, I believe they have some input to the French paradox (wine intake) that may be protective, but I agree that the French paradox supports the idea that there is still much to be found about the causes of obesity and the metabolic syndrome.
On lifestyle of stress, I was pointing towards chronic stress, which can affect metabolism and amounts of free radical species (ie. oxidative stress) which have been linked to the metabolic syndrome, obesity, and heart disease.
Finally, I agree with your dilemmas on patient compliance and would like to add that lifestyle changes can be a difficult task especially for someone who has been eating a high-risk diet all their lives and associate eating with life experiences, which adds an emotional component to eating.
People in the developing countries don't have enough money to spend on fast foods and whatever they eat is home cooked though they do not get to eat quality foods and whole kinds of food like people in developed countries do. They work hard, burn fat, walk while people in developed countries have all these foods grown inorganically, lots of fast food places (drive-thrus), they don't work hard meaning human labor, they travel in car, eat in car etc.
ReplyDeleteDeveloped countries have more privilege and facilities, luxury but people are lazy.
And of course all factors like genetic, environmental, diet etc plays a crucial role on it but there are some insights we need to consider and pay attention to, and brought into people's attention. Eating well and leaving healthy, exercising promotes healthy, happy, and long life while the opposite can do harm.
I think you make some great points about the overall picture. One think I would add is something similar to what you describe, about the Mediterranean Diet which has been supported for some time due to its high fish content and thus Omega-3/6 fatty acids. I heard recently that there was an increased rate of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, etc in Mediterranean countries due to a deviation from the healthy diet due to increases in economy which allowed people extra cash to buy red meat, fast food, etc.
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