Obesity, with its simple definition, is the accumulation of excess fat in the body. Obesity is not just an issue that affects a person's appearance. The World Health Organization defines obesity as a chronic disease that shortens life by 10-12 years due to diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and fatty liver.
Obesity is perhaps one of the most important public health problems of our time and it is increasing rapidly around the world.
According to the current data of the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 700 million obese people in the world. The number of overweight people is over 2 billion. According to a study recently published in the Lancet, there are 250 million obese children in the world, and 45 million of them are under the age of 5. According to the estimation of the World Health Organization, 1 out of every 4 people worldwide will be obese by 2047 if this rate continues. In our country, the situation is not much different. According to the latest data of the Ministry of Health, the rate of obesity in both sexes is 30% in adults and it is increasing gradually.
Obesity seriously threatens public health and acts almost like an epidemic. The fight against obesity is perhaps one of the top priorities of mankind today.
Causes of Obesity
Obesity is a very complex disease with genetic basis. Many reasons such as hormonal, metabolic, psychological, cultural and behavioral factors on a genetic basis can cause obesity. Major causes of obesity:
- hormonal states
- Side effects of some treatments and drugs
- lead a sedentary life
- Insufficient intake of breast milk
- irregular diet
- having multiple births at close intervals
- psychological problems
- underactive thyroid gland
- hereditary factors
Although there are numerous reasons that affect obesity, the logic is this: If you take in more calories from food than you spend, this will cause you to gain weight over time. As you gain weight, many hormonal and metabolic changes occur in your body. For example, hormones that trigger hunger come into play more, and therefore your eating frequency and portions may increase.
Many other factors that affect energy balance and metabolism can also trigger obesity. For example, sleep disorder, stress, some drugs, etc. As more fat accumulates in the body, the metabolism slows down even more. After a certain point, it gets into a vicious circle.
Among the causes of obesity, factors such as irregular eating, running out of fast-food-style foods, and not doing regular exercise have a great impact.
Why don't we eat to live, but live to eat?
30,000 years ago, our ancestors had access to one sweet treat: unripe fruit. The wisest thing a stone age man would do when he saw a tree full of figs was to eat as much as he could. Until a group of baboons (monkeys) in that area took over the tree. That's why it's engraved in our genes today to gorge on high-calorie foods. Today we may live comfortably in high-rise apartments with full refrigerators, but our DNA still thinks we're living in scarcity. I'm going to starve one day, so he thinks I should store it.
Symptoms of Obesity
The condition, which is called obesity among the people, is referred to as obese in the medical language. One of the most important symptoms of obesity is the onset of serious body fat. The fat stored in the body affects the health status of the person as much as it affects the external appearance. These stored fats cause obesity.
- Snore
- Sleep apnea
- excessive sweating
- breathlessness during activity
- pain in joints
- fatty liver
Factors such as obesity are among the symptoms of obesity.
The most commonly used criterion to define and classify obesity is the concept called body mass index (BMI). Studies have shown that BMI is a parameter that reflects the amount of body fat well. If you know your height and weight, you can easily calculate your BMI. If you divide your weight in meters by the square of your height, the result is your body mass index.
