OBESITY
Annie John,
Kerala, India
Lovely Professional University
Most of the world's population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were obese. Obesity is the accumulation of excess body fat that results when energy intake exceeds energy expenditure.
Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat. It is a simple index of weight for height that is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity in adults.
BMI = Person's weight in kilogram/Square of height in meters
= Kg/M2
For adults, WHO defines overweight and obesity as follows
Overweight is a BMI ≥ 25 and,
Obesity is a BMI ≥ 30.
Raised BMI is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as:
- · Cardiovascular disease(mainly heart disease & stroke)
- · Musculoskeletal disorders(especially osteoarthritis)
- Some cancer(including endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, gall-bladder, kidney and colon).
Types of obesity
- Upper body obesity
- Lower body obesity
Upper body obesity: - Excess fat located in the central abdominal area of the body is called “apple shaped” or upper body obesity. This obesity is associated with greater risk for hypertension, insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia and corenary heart disease.
Waist to hip ratio > 0.8 for women
Waist to hip ratio > 1.0 for men
The abdominal depots are characterized by rapid uptake of predominately diet derived fat and high rapid turnover that is easily stimulated by adrenergic receptor activation.
Lower body obesity: - Excess fat distributed in the lower extremities around the hips is called “Pear shaped” or lower body obesity. This obesity shows opposite associations with cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Waist to hip ratio > 0.8 for women
Waist to hip ratio > 1.0 for men.
