The problem isn’t just aesthetic, with 2.8 million adults dying every year from overweight and obesity. If you belong to the group of people who unsuccessfully struggle with extra kilograms, check what you can do to improve your health and extend your life.
Overweight and obesity
The WHO defines overweight and obesity as excessive or abnormal (e.g. focusing on a specific area of the body) accumulation of body fat.
The basic indicator differentiating between overweight and obesity is BMI. It is calculated as the ratio of weight expressed in kilograms and height expressed in meters squared.
In adults, the following are diagnosed:
- overweight with a BMI greater than or equal to 25;
- obesity with a BMI greater than or equal to 30.
Obesity is a disease and is listed in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) under the number E66. Excess weight, on the other hand, is considered a “subtype” of obesity according to the aforementioned classification and can be found under the designation E66.3. Obesity is considered a chronic disease, while overweight is considered a disease that can turn into obesity.
Causes of overweight and obesity
Environmental
Overweight and obesity in most cases is a consequence of an incorrect lifestyle. A diet rich in carbohydrates and saturated fatty acids (contained, m.in in instant and fast food) and lack of physical activity are the main factors in the development of obesity. Irregular meal times, lack of sleep hygiene, overwork and stress are also important – insufficient rest and nervous tension make it more difficult for us to achieve a feeling of satiety and we are more willing to reach for snacks.
Genetic
Some people may have a genetic predisposition to obesity. If there are cases of people with this disease in your family, you should pay special attention to a healthy lifestyle and perform tests to verify whether any weight problems may have their source in genetics. In uPacjent’s offer you will find the GENOdiagDIET package – metabolism and obesity genes. It verifies all the parameters that determine the hereditary tendency to excess weight. It includes:
- FTO gene – obesity susceptibility gene;
- PPARγ gene – a gene for a receptor activated by peroxisome gamma proliferators;
- FABP2 gene – a gene for the intestinal fatty acid-binding protein I, FABP (Fatty Acid Binding Protein);
- APOE gene – two genotyping mutations of the Apolipoprotein E isoform;
- ADRB3 gene – a gene encoding β-3 adrenergic receptors.
Can overweight and obesity affect slim people?
It turns out that the problem of accumulated body fat can also affect slim people whose BMI is normal. Sometimes fat is deposited on internal organs – kidneys, heart – without causing visual changes in the figure. We then speak of visceral fat. It is very dangerous – it causes disorders in the functioning of organs and can lead to cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance or fatty liver.
To check if the internal organs are not fat, it is worth performing a body composition analysis. It is carried out with the use of a special scale that sends electrical impulses, measuring the resistance of tissues to electricity. In this way, the proportions of muscle, fat, bone and water tissue are calculated. For people who would like to take such measurements on their own and do it regularly, home scales with the option of body composition analysis are available.