What is Obesity? Types, Causes and Risk Factors

Obesity is a treatable disease that is a global wellness concern associated with producing an excess measure of body fat. It is produced by genetic and environmental factors and prison be difficult to control by dieting alone. Obesity is diagnosed by a healthcare provider also is listed as having a Body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher. Nearly 40 percent of Americans own obesity.

Obesity and smoking are similar in that their bad effects on health are not immediate and obvious, so they are easily overlooked. Studies have confirmed that severe obesity can cause many diseases such as diabetes, Hypertension, Heart Disease, coronary artery Disease, Kidney Disease, and digestive System Diseases. And the Chance of getting sick is higher for people who are extremely Overweight, and the serious ones can be fatal.

Social and Psychological Costs In

In today’s society, the mass media overstates that thinness is beautiful, so that everyone says they want to Lose Weight. If you gain a little weight, you feel uneasy, and you must subtract the excess weight. Those who are overweight may be regarded as less popular, have difficulty dating the opposite sex, and have poor school performance and income.

In addition, they will be mistaken for being lazy, not smart enough, and lack self-control, and should be responsible for their physical condition. These negative perceptions may affect the self-image and depression of obese people and are often bothered by their body shape and weight.

Types of Obesity

The average person will classify weight as a continuation classification: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. Willard (1991) has another interesting but uncommon classification. It includes the following seven types:

1. Metabolic obesity is caused by a low metabolic rate. When a person has eaten on a weight-loss meal but still gains weight, it is metabolic obesity. Treatment needs to adjust the patient’s diet and exercise habits to meet the patient’s metabolic level.
2. Environmental obesity is probably caused by a certain lifestyle, such as a family who often eats
   late-night snacks and snacks, less physical labor, or lack of exercise. Because this pathogen is caused by the environment, changing lifestyles and environments may help obese people.
3. Endocrine disorder obesity (Endocrinopathy obesity)
   Hypothyroidism (hypothyroidism) is the most common cause of obesity in endocrine disorders. Patients are usually accompanied by low metabolic rate and loss of appetite.
4. Abnormal appetite regulation obesity
   Maybe produced by damage to the pituitary operation. This disease is the same as the obesity caused by the imbalance of internal secretion, and it must be treated with drugs.
5. Adipose cell proliferation obesity is caused by the continuous decomposition of fat cells, and the increased cells continue to accumulate excess energy. This type of obesity needs to be combined with psychosocial and drug treatment methods to be effective.
6. Careful eating disorders (compulsive eating disorders) manage to compulsive eating based on psychological or emotional distress. Bulimia is one of the most prominent examples. Another example is reactive eating, such as reflex after stress or anxiety leading to large amounts of eating. The obesity of compulsive eating is mainly caused by psychological factors, so it can be treated with psychotherapy and behavioral techniques (behavioral techniques).
7. The cause of weight gain in patients with pharmacological induced obesity caused by
   Drugs are a change in metabolism after taking certain drugs. Some patients with depression may also stop taking it themselves due to the side effects of weight gain caused by the drug while receiving antidepressants.

Causes of obesity

The traditional and general explanation is: Obesity is caused by eating too much and too little exercise. This definition can be established to a certain extent. In fact, obesity is a complicated phenomenon, including physical and psychological factors.

Genetic factors (genetic predisposition)

have been confirmed by twin research reports that excessive obesity may be related to the “826T” gene mischief and tend to appear in the same family members. It is a fat cell in our body. The cell stores excess energy, and its number and size can increase as the body changes, and the individual’s eating habits increase. But when its number increases, it cannot be restored, that is, the number cannot be reduced. What can be reduced is only the volume of the cells.

Obese parents are more likely to have obese children, so some people are more obese than others. The potential for obesity may also be established on dietary habits during pregnancy or childhood. In addition, the number and volume of fat cells in the body are affected by the dietary habits of childhood.

If the child’s fat cells increase in size and number, when he becomes an adult, the chance of obesity will also increase greatly. Excess diet in adulthood will only increase the volume of fat cells, not the number. This shows the importance of preventing obesity in childhood.

The theory of set point theory

assumes that there is a natural set point in the weight of every human body, but it varies from person to person. That is, our body can control the level of fat cells and balance them. When fat storage drops to a certain low point, the body will automatically create a feeling of hunger and slow down the speed of metabolism to keep the weight at a fixed level. Some people have higher fixed-point positions, so their weight often stays above normal. Those with a lower fixed-point position are thinner than the average person in the long run.

This theory has not been confirmed, and its role and properties in controlling fat cells are still unknown. But this theory can explain why some people who lose weight through dieting programs can easily increase back to his original pounds. The difficulty seems to be to maintain the lost weight for a long time. For the same reason, those who want to gain weight face similar problems.

Psychological factors

1. Psychological theory (psychoanalytic theory) this theory is the belief, obesity is the result of unresolved inner conflict (unresolved conflicts) or emotional stress. Patient eating is just a way to escape reality, but this self-defense method failed to achieve his goal of evading reality, but instead led them to a greater emotional frustration, a vicious circle of self-doubt, and continued to eat more.
   
   
2. Environmental cues (Environmental cues)
   This theory assumes that obese people are particularly sensitive to external cues, which affects their normal hunger and physiological sensitivity to the real need for food. For example, they are particularly sensitive to the supply of food and the attractiveness of food. Normal people eat when they are hungry, and stop when they are full, while such obese people can continue to eat when they are not hungry because of TV advertisements, food appearance, or fragrance.
3. Obese personality
   According to some clinical remarks, the character of obese people includes: nervousness, strict dependence, require for oral satisfaction, and reduced adaptability. However, the above speculation has not been supported and confirmed by research, so we should not use colored glasses to comment on them casually.

Classification of obesity

The three most commonly used methods for measuring obesity are ideal body weight ratio, body mass index BMI, and waist-hip ratio. If the body is defined as obese, what kind of obesity does it belong to?

Types of obesity

1. Hyperplasia is caused by an increase in the number of fat cells, which is most likely to occur in infancy (from one to four years old) and adolescence. Fat is evenly distributed on the limbs and trunk. Among those who are obese in these two periods, 70% are obese in adulthood. Therefore, it is very important to prevent obesity as early as possible.
2. Hypertrophy (Hypertrophy) This kind of situation mostly occurs in adulthood or pregnancy. The volume of fat cells increases and accumulates on certain parts, such as the abdomen, buttocks, arms, thighs, or neck.

Apple obesity, the two Most Common Obesity Categories

• Fat around the belly and beer belly;
• The upper body is fatter and the waist is not obvious;
• Recently blood pressure is very high;
• Although it is not fat but the waist is protruding, it is easy to produce diseases, such as high blood pressure and blood sugar, abnormal menstruation, and mild heart disease;
• Blessed only after middle age;
• Common in men who are obese.

Pear type obesity

• Refers to lower body fat;
• The main obese parts are the abdomen, hips, thighs, etc .;
• Obvious waist
• Obese since childhood or obese during adolescence;
• Gain weight after giving birth;
• Common in women who are obese.

This article was reviewed by a consultant doctor

Visceral obesity is more dangerous

In general, men’s fat tends to concentrate on the abdomen, while women tend to concentrate under the skin, especially the hips and thighs. Regardless of men and women, if the proportion of abdominal fat is high, it is easy to suffer from diseases caused by obesity. Men have a higher chance of suffering from these diseases than women, which may also be related to this. When researchers studied the relationship between fat distribution and health, they found that people with fat buttocks are healthier than those with fat belly.

People with fat buttocks have different cholesterol components from those with fat belly. In the former, the buttocks are hypertrophic but the waistline is not large, and the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) content in the body is high. This cholesterol can enter and exit the arterial wall without being deposited in the intima of the blood vessel wall, which can cause atherosclerosis and can also remove the cholesterol already existing on the blood vessel wall, thereby preventing heart disease. 

Conversely, people with a large abdomen and small buttocks have low HDL levels and are more likely to have heart disease. The accumulation of fat in different parts of the body is the reason for the different HDL content. On the other hand, the fat in the abdomen is deep in the body, which prevents the liver from synthesizing this cholesterol, while the fat in the buttocks is only under the skin, which has little effect on HDL production by the liver.

The discovery of the waist-to-hip ratio is of great significance. It prompts people to take the correct method to lose weight, strengthen waist muscle exercise, reduce the accumulation of abdominal fat, and reduce the waist-to-hip ratio. This is not only good for body shape but also great for health.