More people are classed as overweight than of normal weight – and more importantly, 27 percent of women and 24 percent of men are classified as clinically obese.
WHAT CAUSES OBESITY?
Your natural body weight is influenced by many factors, including your age, sex, shape and genetics. You gain weight when what you eat is not used by the body as energy (calories) and is instead stored in adipose (fatty) tissue. In women, this is usually around the hips, thighs and buttocks, the arms and shoulders. In men, fat builds up around the waist and stomach.
Obesity tends to run in families, not only through genetics but because most people acquire their eating habits from their families. Very rarely, obesity is caused by glandular problems, such as an underactive thyroid or overactive adrenals. Getting older can have an effect, too; older people use less energy, may have joint and mobility problems, lose muscle mass, have slower metabolic rates and store more fat.
PROBLEMS CAUSED BY OBESITY
It is important to understand that obesity is not simply a cosmetic problem. Even moderate weight gain as an adult increases your risk of illness later. Many overweight people have high blood pressure and blood fat levels that have been linked to a number of health concerns, including coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, some cancers, gallstones, and adult-onset diabetes.
If you are clinically obese, it means your metabolism is putting stress on many organs in your body and the extra load on the bones and joints can make pre-existing medical conditions, such as osteoarthritis, worse. Storing weight around the stomach (apple shape) is associated with greater risk of disease than storing fat on the hips and thighs (pear shape). However, if you lose 5 to 10 percent of this accumulated extra weight and switch to a healthy eating plan with exercise, you can substantially reduce your risk.
FAT AND THE MENOPAUSE
Women tend to put on weight between the ages of 40 and 60. Though overall estrogen levels drop, estrogen is still produced by body fat, if it is substantial. Some women attribute their weight gain to hormone therapy, but reduced activity resulting in loss of muscle mass may be more pertinent. Walking for at least 30 minutes daily reduces the risk of heat disease and stroke by 40 percent. Walking strengthens muscles and bones by placing on and a half times the body weight on them.
Watch the video related to men health problems
President Obama and Congressional leaders from both parties discuss controlling health care costs at the Blair House in Washington, DC
This looks really great for a 7th/8th grader… I don't think that you have anything to worry about- very persuasive!
It is good to eat nutritiously everyday….. You feel better, have more energy throughout the day, and feel happier all over……
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