It's a growing obesity crisis! Not only has it become a discernible issue in prosperous Western society, it is now a global concern. Millions of people suffer obesity-related healthcare problems, especially teenagers, 15% of whom are obese today, in comparison to just 5% in the 1960's (figures from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The well-known health effects of obesity include heart disease, diabetes, stroke and other chronic problems that cause premature death. Severely obese people can expect to have significantly shorter lives. To tackle obesity, there are things that can be done on nutritional standards and exercise.
Body Mass Index (BMI): Also known as Quetelet Index, BMI is a statistical measure of a persons weight scaled according to his height. To calculate the BMI, an individuals body weight is divided by the square of his height. i.e kg/m2 . The numeric measure of BMI helps determine the weight problems faced by people, which includes being over-weight or under-weight. People with a BMI over 30 are considered obese.
There is a strong inverse relationship between fitness and excess body weight, especially in adolescents. Low fitness levels are as important as a predictor of mortality as diabetes, cholesterol level, hypertension and smoking. It has been found that compared with normal-weight men, overweight and obese men were more likely to smoke, be sedentary, have higher blood pressure and raised cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Hence, the huge importance of physical activity.
It is also important to lose weight to maintain a healthy heart. It is true that being lean does not indicate fitness; similarly, an individual may be fat yet fit. People who are fit and have an ideal or normal BMI are the least at risk to coronary heart disease (CHD), while those with low fitness levels or who are overweight or obese have the worst profiles. Moreover, low-fit normal weight people too have been found to have better risk profiles for coronary heart disease than highly fit, but overweight or obese people. Being both normal weight and fit is the best recommendation for prevention of health ailments.
Most of us are stigmatized by the words “too fat”. It is a perpetual war with our own bodies. Let us just remember that it is fruitless to fight biological reality. Some people are naturally meant to be thin, some naturally meant to be fat. Exercise and diet can modify our genetic destiny only so much. You cannot always mould your body into a desirable shape, and that most certainly does not mean that we cannot be fit. Besides, it is far more important to be fit than it is to be thin.