Obesity

What is Obesity?

Obesity, also known as fatness among people, is the accumulation of excessive and abnormal fat in the body to the extent that it impairs and damages health.
Adipose tissue secretes hormonal and chemical substances affecting the entire system. Some secretions cause appetite to increase, take the satiety limit to a higher level and cause obesity to progress.
While excessive weight gain threatens your health to a great extent, it may also restrict your movements and cause serious diseases.

What are the Causes of Obesity?

Obesity is often seen in individuals who have an excessive calorie diet and who have insufficient movement or exercise in their daily life. Moreover, obesity can be associated with a wide variety of reasons such as genetic predisposition, underlying endocrine diseases or psychiatric disorders and antipsychotic drugs used.
Today, technology reduces the use of individual body power in daily life. It is thought that especially the widespread and easy accessibility of transportation vehicles and the sedentary lifestyle contributes greatly to the increase in obesity prevalence in societies.
Another necessity of modern life, and especially of big city life, is the obligation to eat in a limited time and to go back to daily work. This necessity causes fast and mostly calorie meals (fast-food) to become widespread not only in western countries but also in all developing countries. Especially, a diet rich in high-calorie fat and carbohydrates is regarded as a significant factor in the prevalence of obesity.

What are Obesity-Induced Diseases?

Obesity leads to many metabolic and psychosocial problems including the following diseases:

Cardiovascular Diseases
Hypertension
Type 2 Diabetes
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (POS)
Infertility
Menstrual Irregularities
Migraine

Stroke
Sleep Apnea
Emboli
Asthma
Cancer
Fatty liver syndrome
Depression

Body-Mass-Index

Bei der Berechnung der Fettleibigkeit wird der Body-Mass-Index (BMI) verwendet. Dieser ergibt sich aus dem Verhältnis des Körpergewichts in Kilogramm und der Körpergröße in Metern zum Quadrat (kg/m²). Nach den Ergebnissen des Body-Mass-Index werden Personen mit einem BMI über 30 als fettleibig, über 40 als krankhaft fettleibig und über 50 als super fettleibig bezeichnet. Mit einem detaillierten Body-Mass-Index, unter Berücksichtigung des Alters und des Geschlechts, kann bestimmt werden, ob das Gewicht, der prozentuale Fettanteil und der Bauchumfang in einem Normalwertbereich liegen.