obesity meaning

 As of 2014, 1.9 billion of the world's population is overweight and 600 million of them are obese. That means 13% of the world's population is obese. 11% of them are male and 15% are female. In addition, around 42 million children have become obese during that time. Thus, the increase in obesity among children is a very dangerous issue and this situation can be seen in almost every country in the world. Malnutrition during childhood and infancy can contribute to this condition.

Obesity affects people physically and mentally, which indirectly affects the development and gross domestic product of a country. Among the non-communicable diseases caused by obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and cancer are among the leading causes of death at an early age and the incidence of chronic diseases, and the cost of hospitalization is also increased. 

So what is Obesity? 

Obesity is caused by the abnormal growth of adipose tissue in a person's body. This may be due to the increase in the number of fat cells in the adipose tissue or the increase in the size of those cells or both.

The way to measure or get an idea about obesity is simply the BMI value of a body and it gives a good understanding of body weight.

Adipose tissue?

The human body is made up of various types of cells, tissues and organs. Cells known as mast cells have the ability to produce and store fat. These are normally located in the subcutaneous adipose tissue beneath the skin.Also, these tissues are found in abundance in the muscles, around the digestive tract, around the heart, and in the bone marrow.These fatty tissues store the fat we eat and the fat produced in the body in various ways.

There are two kind of adipose tissues in human body, they are white adipose tissues and brown adipose tissues. When we are in little ages, we see mostly brown fat, but as we get older, it gradually decreases and white adipose tissue starts to become prominent.

Fatty tissue in men is found in the waist area, while in women, fatty tissue is found in the hips.

Hormonal differences between men and women have been found to alter the distribution of adipose tissue in this way. Therefore, while men tend to store more fat around the waist and abdomen, women tend to have more fat in the hips, buttocks, and thighs.

Abdominal Obesity 

Abnormal accumulation of fat in and around the abdomen is known as abdominal obesity and this is also known as central obesity. There is a direct relationship between abdominal obesity and heart diseases and also this seems to have a negative impact on overall health.

These are some issues related to abdominal obesity:

• Coronory heart disease 
• Hypertention
• Insulin resistance
• Diabetics Mellitus type 2
• Hyperlipidemia
• Bronchial Asthma
• Cushing's Syndrome
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome
• Glucose Intolerance
• Alzheimer's Disease

Factors influencing obesity

• Decreased Insulin sensitivity
• Smoking during pregnancy 
• Taking estrogen hormone supplements
• Hereditary genetic influence
• Late night eating habits
• Depression
• Gastritis and Gord
• Less sleep time 

According to the recent research Individuals with normal BMI and obesity have been found to be more vulnerable to health threats than individuals with high BMI.

Adiposity between women and men shows differences according to age. That is, it appears that men of that age are twice as obese as young women (under 50). on the other hand 70% of women and 50% of men have been found to have abdominal obesity over the age of 50.

Estrogen is the fat-storing hormone in women. It deposits fat around the buttocks, hips and thighs.But with menopause, as this hormone produced by the ovaries decreases, this fat moves towards the abdomen. Therefore, obesity has been found to be more common in women over 50 years of age than younger women.

some of the other  reasons for abdominal obesity are taking high calorie diets and drinking alcohol. 

How to measure abdominal obesity?   

there are several ways to measure abdominal obesity: 

1. Waist circumference
2. waist - hip ratio
3. waist to height ratio 

Waist circumference

Waist circumference is the line that runs right in the middle between the hip bone and the last rib when standing with both hands on the sides. its often go through navel. As the amount of fat stored around a person's waist increases, so does their waist circumference.In asian countries normal value for women is below 31 inches and its below 35 inches for men. 

Waist Hip ratio

This ratio can be obtained by dividing the waist circumference by the hip circumference. This ratio for men should be less than 0.9 and for women the value should be less than 0.85.

Thre are two types of bodies that are categorized by researchers according to this ratio and they are

1. Apple shape bodies 
2. pear shape bodies

It has been found that those with an apple-shaped body have a higher risk of contracting non-communicable diseases than those with a pear-shaped body.

Waist Height ratio

This ratio is obtained by dividing waist circumference by height. This is a measure of how fat tissue is spread throughout the body and when this ratio exceeds 0.5, the risk of developing diseases increases.

There are some other methods use to measure abdominal obesity

1. skin fold thickness 
2. Hydrostatic underwater weighing
3. Bio Electric impedence
4. CT scan
5. MRI scan
6. Dual energy Xray absorptometry (DEXA)

To learn and more about Obesity

Watch amason prime vedio

Here are some books to refer about obesity and how to destroy it

1. The Obesity Code: the bestselling guide to unlocking the secrets of weight loss

About the Author

Dr Jason Fung is a medical doctor recognised as one of the world’s leading experts on fasting to lose weight and reverse diabetes, and his work has been featured in the Atlantic, the New York Post, Forbes, and on Fox News. He is the founder of the Intensive Dietary Management programme and the author of several books, including The Complete Guide to Fasting (co-authored with Jimmy Moore); The Obesity Code, which is an international bestseller; and The Diabetes Code. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

2. The Obesity Epidemic: What Caused It? How Can We Stop It? 

About the Author

Zoë was the first pupil from her state school to graduate from Cambridge University, having won a scholarship to read mathematics/economics at this famous institution. What no one knew at the time was that, having been anorexic as a teenager, Zoe had developed bulimia before starting her studies at Cambridge. She sat in her historic room, overlooking Kings Chapel, stuffing her face with food and asked the million dollar question: "Why do I overeat? When all I want is to be slim?"
So started over a decade of research into obesity, overeating and weight loss. During her 20's Zoë experienced food cravings to rival any drug addiction and discovered that there are three medical conditions that cause these food cravings. And so her first book came about: "Why do you overeat? When all you want is to be slim." Published in 2004, it continues to change the lives of people who read it.

3.  The Overweight Patient: A Psychological Approach to Understanding and Working with Obesity

About the Author
Kathy Leach is a clinical transactional analyst who specialises in psychotherapy for the overweight and people who overeat. She teaches on MA courses and runs training and workshops on working with overeating and obesity for both trainee and qualified practitioners in the caring professions.