who,what,where,when,why? answer to get 10 points answer this part specially. People who are obese weigh far more than is clinically healthy. More times than not their addiction to food is psychological.
Obesity is a physical state of being entwined with emotional deficiencies.
It is all encompassing and dictates mood, happiness, activity level, desires, and obsessions.
Obese people are literally prisoners in their own skin who are not only judged and prejudiced by others but even more so by themselves! although you stole this question from MEDICINE NET i will answer anyway.lol
Obesity is an excess of body fat that frequently results in a significant impairment of health. Obesity results when the size or number of fat cells in a person's body increases. A normal-sized person has between 30 and 35 billion fat cells. When a person gains weight, these fat cells first increase in size and later in number. One pound of body fat represents about 3500 calories.
When a person starts losing weight, the cells decrease in size, but the number of fat cells generally stays the same. This is part of the reason that once you gain a significant amount of weight, it is more difficult to lose it. However, some recent studies seem to imply that fat cells can be destroyed as a result of certain medications and that a decrease in fat cell number may occur if a lower body weight is maintained for a prolonged period of time.
Each fat cell weighs a very small amount (about 0.4 to 0.6 micrograms but can be as small as 0.1 micrograms to as large as 1.2 micrograms). In other words, it would take about 5 million fat cells to get just 1 ounce of fat. However, the weight of billions and billions of fat cells does add-up. Obviously, it is not practical to count the number of fat cells in a person's body, so science has come up with easier methods to determine if a person is owerweight or obese.
Earlier methods involved tables of desirable weights at various heights that were derived by life insurance companies. These tables were based on illnesses and death rates.
Obesity results when there is an imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. In other words, you consume more calories than you expend in your daily activities. Weight gained during certain critical periods of your life more commonly lead to an increased number (as opposed to increased size) of fat cells and make obesity more difficult to treat. These time periods are:
Between 12 and 18 months of age.
Between 12 and 16 years of age.
Adulthood when a person gains in excess of 60% of their ideal body weight.
Pregnancy.
During these periods, an excessive amount of weight gain causes an increased number of fat cells. Once a fat cell is formed, you generally cannot get rid of it. However, recent studies imply that use of certain medications can destroy fat cells and that a decrease in the number of fat cells can occur if you maintain a lower body weight for a prolonged period of time.
What causes one person to gain weight while another person maintains their weight? There are differences in people, and several factors that contribute to these differences have been identified:
Active individuals require more calories than less active ones. Physical activity tends to diminish appetite in obese individuals while increasing the body's ability to preferentially metabolize fat as an energy source. It is believed that much of the increase in obesity in the last 25 years has resulted from the decreased level of physical activity in everyday life (such as emailing coworkers instead of walking over to their desks. Obesity: The state of being well above one persons normal weight.
A person has traditionally been considered to be obese if they are more than 20 % over their ideal weight. That ideal weight must take into account the person's height, age, sex, and build.
Obesity has been more precisely defined by the National Institutes of Health (the NIH) as a BMI of 30 and above. (A BMI of 30 is about 30 pounds overweight.)
The BMI (body mass index), a key index for relating body weight to height, is a person's weight in kilograms (kg) divided by their height in meters (m)squared. Since the BMI describes the body weight relative to height, it correlates strongly (in adults) with the total body fat content. Some very muscular people may have a high BMI without undue health risks.
Obesity is often multifactorial, based on both genetic and behavioral factors. Accordingly, treatment of obesity usually requires more than just dietary changes. Exercise, counseling and support, and sometimes medication can supplement diet to help patients conquer weight problems. Extreme diets, on the other hand, can actually contribute to increased obesity.
Overweight is a significant contributor to health problems. It increases the risk of developing a number of diseases including:
Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes
High blood pressure (hypertension)
Stroke (cerebrovascular accident or CVA)
Heart attack (myocardial infarction or MI)
Heart failure (congestive heart failure)
Cancer (certain forms such as cancer of the prostate and cancer of the colon and rectum)
Gallstones and gall bladder disease (cholecystitis)
Gout and gouty arthritis
Osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis) of the knees, hips, and the lower back
Sleep apnea (failure to breath normally during sleep, lowering blood oxygen)
Pickwickian syndrome (obesity, red face, underventilation, and drowsiness).
Hope this helped :]
xx anyone with a BMI (body mass index) of 30 or more! or a male who has more than 25% body fat or a woman who has more than 30% . |
