Effects of Obesity

So, what are the effects of obesity on your body, you ask? Well, the good news is that people who are overweight tend to have smoother skin and fewer wrinkles. So maybe they look younger. That’s the end of the good news. No more good news for being obese.

An obese person will also appear larger and your stride or gait may be affected. You may have noticed that people who are quite obese may appear to “waddle” as opposed to walk with a more rapid, smooth gait.

There is a technical difference between being overweight and obese and morbidly obese. For example, you are overweight is you BMI (Body Mass Index) is from 25-29. You are obese if your BMI is from 30-39. You are morbidly obese if your BMI is 40 or more and you are also in a high risk category for serious health problems.

A person is considered to be of normal weight when their BMI is from 18.5 to 25 or so.

So What Happens?

Obesity causes the entire body to work with more effort, thus tending to more rapidly wear out the life forces. To put it another way, obese people tend to grow older more rapidly.

In a society where physical beauty accented by slim and trim features exhibited by attractive swim wear and chiseled bodies, people who are obese can easily feel ostracized, ignored or worse. This can be very painful and can also lead to serious behavioral disorders.

Obese people often feel left out because they feel inadequate to participate in many outdoor activities such as hiking and swimming.

Anything Else?

The remaining effects of obesity on your body are no less perilous, even life-threatening. Let’s consider the effects of obesity.

Obesity stresses the joints (hips, knees, and ankles) and feet. The increased weight brought to bear increases the risk or strain, fracture or degenerative disease.

The heart must work harder to pump blood between arteries that are more constricted because of excess fat in the body. This can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke.

The spine or backbone must support the additional weight which can cause back problems such as compression of the vertebrae of the spine, which can lead to scoliosis and severe back pain.

Obesity is also associated with some liver diseases.

Type 2 diabetes has been shown to have a direct link to obesity.

Some cancers, such as esophagus cancer, pancreatic cancer colon cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid cancer, and gallbladder cancer, among others, have been related to obesity.

Given all of the above information, does it not seem to be very wise to avoid obesity and all of its very negative complications?

Do you struggle with weight - gain or loss? How is it going for you?

Please share your thoughts and any response you may have in the form below.

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