What is Obesity?
Is Obesity the same as Overweight?
Obesity is a more severe form of overweight.
It is a condition when a person’s weight significantly exceeds the ideal weight for his age and gender and starts giving him/her the various kinds of health issues.
BODY MASS INDEX is the measure for comparison of body weight and body type.
A person is considered obese if his body weight exceeds by 20% than that of recommended.
Obesity is considered a Lifestyle Disease. Unhealthy lifestyle choices like Inactivity and Laziness, sedentary working habits and wrong diet, play a significant role in its development.
Obesity has become a Global Epidemic in recent times. The number of obese individuals is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide.
India is also not immune to it.
A study published in a noted medical journal LANCET states that currently India is ranked fifth worldwide in the total number of Obese individuals.
Though primarily obesity feels like more of a cosmetic issue, it is not so. Obesity can do a lot of harm to our body. Obese people are at increased risk of High blood pressure, heart attacks, Diabetes mellitus, High blood cholesterol levels, etc. These health issues are collectively referred to as Metabolic Syndrome.
In recent years obesity has started spreading its roots even in the younger population across the world. Which is a sign of worry as the more and more young population will be suffering from the consequences of obesity early in their life.
TYPES OF OBESITY
According to the pattern of fat distribution, obesity is classified into the following two types
- Somatic/Subcutaneous Obesity : [Sub: Beneath/below and Cutaneous: Skin]
This type of obesity is associated with accumulation of fat below our skin, at the locations such as arms, underarms, hips, thighs, belly, etc.
Usually, we all have a layer of fat under our skin; which is normal. If excess amounts of fat get deposited in this layer, it can have various adverse effects on our health. It is the visible sign of being overweight/obese.
- Visceral Obesity: Here, Viscera means our Internal organs or Organs inside our body cavity.
The fat gets accumulated around organs present within our body cavity, e.g. stomach, intestines, liver, kidney etc. This kind of fat deposition can not become apparent outside as obesity. It remains hidden within the body cavity. A person might appear thin though he may be having a large amount of visceral fat, which makes it a more severe problem. After all, a majority of abnormal health conditions like Heart problems, Insulin resistance, high blood pressure are associated with this kind of fat accumulation and distribution.
Obesity can also be classified according to body type.
- Apple Shape Obesity: Here, the excess amount of fat accumulation takes place around the waistline. Most of the time, it is associated with excess collection of both visceral as well as somatic (Subcutaneous) fat. Apple shape obesity is most commonly associated with metabolic syndrome and related health problems.
- Pear Shape Obesity: Here, the excess amount of fat accumulation takes place around the hips and the thigh region. With a relatively thin waist. It is most commonly the collection of Subcutaneous fat.
