What is Obesity?

Obesity means an excessively high proportion of body fat. Overweight refers to an excess of body weight, but not necessarily body fat. Health professionals use a measurement called body mass index (BMI) to classify an adult's weight as healthy, overweight, or obese. BMI describes body weight relative to height and is correlated with total body fat content in most adults. Generally, the higher your BMI, the higher your health risk, and the risk increases even further if your waist size is greater than 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women.

People who are overweight or obese are more likely to develop heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, gallbladder disease, and joint pain caused by excess uric acid (gout). Excess weight can also cause interrupted breathing during sleep and wearing away of the joints (osteoarthritis). Carrying extra weight means carrying an extra risk for certain types of cancer, including endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon cancer.

Losing Weight

Most overweight people should lose weight gradually. Sometimes, people with serious health problems associated with obesity may have legitimate reasons for losing weight rapidly. If so, a physician's supervision is required. Experts recommend that people who are overweight or obese should concentrate on engaging in regular physical activity and maintaining healthy eating habits.

See your doctor for advice about your overall health risk and the weight loss options that are best for you. Together, decide whether you should go on a moderate diet or whether other options might be appropriate. Check with your doctor and make sure that your health status allows lowering your caloric intake and increasing your physical activity.

Successful weight loss and healthy weight management depend on sensible goals and 

expectations. Doctors, dieticians, and other experts agree that the best way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories and increase your physical activity. Follow a calorie-reduced balanced diet that provides for 1-2 pounds of weight loss a week. Be sure to include at least five servings a day of fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains, lean meat and low fat dairy products. Make time in your day for some form of physical activity.

Walking is an excellent form of physical activity that almost everyone can do. In addition to helping to control weight, physical activity decreases the risk of dying from coronary heart disease and reduces the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, and certain cancers.
Copyright Bridget Mwape writes for the Nutritional Supplements Website at: http://www.nutritional-supplements.org.uk and she's also a regular contributor to the Outdoor Gear Website at http://www.outdoor-gear.org.uk/

Obesity Help

When a person is suffering from obesity-related problems, he/she usually looks for obesity help. This is a service generally provided by health institutes and other social welfare associations. Obesity help assists persons who need a clear idea about obesity, its symptoms, its common causes, its diagnosis, and its treatments.

Obesity is a severe, often overlooked, disabling chronic situation that affects all. It is also defined as a body mass index (BMI) more than 30 kg/m2. Anyone more than a BMI of 40 is considered morbidly obese. This state increases the risk of many health conditions such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, respiratory problems, and some cancers.

Obesity may be caused by hypothyroidism, genetics, poor diet, lack of exercise, poor lifestyle habits, medication side effects and excess alcohol intake. A lot of precautions have to be taken while prescribing medicines for obesity. These medicines are not generally suggested for treating obesity because of the risks that outweigh their benefits. The common medicines include diethylpropion, fenfluramine, mazindol, and phentermine.

An experienced health practitioner can give you information about obesity treatments, including weight loss pills and supplements, surgeries and their complications, etc. Many educational campaigns about the benefits of improved diets and better physical activity are the other sources to find right obesity help. Websites created by health organizations and social service groups are devoted to providing relevant information regarding obesity issues.

The main reason for finding obesity help is the increase of poor life-long nutrition choices and the lack of exercise. Poor nutrition is the cause of not only obesity but numerous other diseases. Good obesity help will help you feel healthy, perform daily activities better, and empower you to eradicate the need for obesity help in the future. If you follow a sound, healthy nutrition plan now and exercise on a regular basis using a good quality fitness program, you're likely to get rid of the need for obesity help.

Author By: Damian Sofsian - Obesity provides detailed information on Obesity, Obesity Help, Childhood Obesity, Morbid Obesity and more. Obesity is affiliated with Morbid Obesity Surgery.