Obesity : A Fat Problem

Obesity is a condition in which the excess body fats gets accumulated to the extent that it may have negative effects on health, reducing the life expectancy and/or increased health problems. According to World Health Organisation, Overweight and Obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. Even though obesity and overweight share the same definition, they are not synonyms.


Body Mass Index (BMI) is the ratio of person's weight to the square of his/her height. If BMI of a person is greater than or equal to 25, the person is said to be Overweight. BMI of an obese is greater than or equal to 30. Thus all obese are overweight but all overweights are not obese.

BMI greater than or equal to 35 experience obesity-related health conditions.

Some key facts on Obesity given by World Health Organisation,

• Overweight and Obesity are leading risks for global deaths and are linked to more deaths than underweight.
• 44% of diabetes burden, 23% of ischaemic heart disease burden (heart disease involving reduced blood supply to an organ or a part of body), and between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributed to Overweight and Obesity.
• Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980.
• In 2008, 1.4 billion adults, aged 20 and above were Overweight out of which 200 million males and nearly 300 million females were obese.
• In 2008, 35% adults were overweight and 11% were obese.
• In 2012, over 40 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese.
• In developing countries with emerging economies, prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity in preschool children is in excess of 30%.
• More than 30 million overweight children are living in developing countries and about 10 million in developed countries.

An article written by Will Dunham for Reuters dated May 28, 2014,  gives the following data on obesity :

• 2.1 billion people or almost 30% of all globally are overweight or obese.
• Nations in the Middle East, North Africa, Central America and Pacific and Caribbean Islands reached staggeringly high obesity rates.
• The biggest obesity rises among women came in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Honduras and Bahrain.
• Among men, it was New Zealand, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and United States.
• The United States was home to the biggest chunk of the planet's obese population - 13%

What Causes Obesity

The fundamental cause of obesity and overweight is imbalance between intake of energy (i.e. calories consumed) and energy utilised (i.e. calories spent). Globally, there has been an increase in intake of energy-rich food containing large amount of fats and decrease in physical activity due to urbanisation, changes in modes of transport, increasing sedentary nature of many forms of work. Changes in diet and decreased physical activity of people is due to societal changes associated with development. People eat more junk food which contain a large amount of fats. Dependence on elevators, cars, mechanised machinery lead to sedentary lifestyle.

Like many other disorders, obesity is the result of interplay between genetic and environmental factors. More than 41 sites in various genes have been linked to obesity under favorable environmental conditions. In some cases, obesity may be genetic. Certain physical and mental illnesses and pharmaceutical drugs used to treat them can increase the risk of obesity. Medical illnesses such as rare Genetic disorders, Hypothryoidism, Cushing's disease, Growth hormone deficiency increase the risk of obesity.

Common Health Consequences of Obesity

Obesity is a major risk factor for some non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders and certain forms of cancer. The risk of these diseases increase with increase in BMI. Among cardiovascular diseases are heart diseases, such as Atherosclerosis, Heart Attack, Angina pectoris, and Blood pressure, Stroke. Cardiovascular diseases were the major cause of death in year 2012. Increased body fats alters body's response to insulin, the hormone that reduces blood sugar level, and leads to insulin resistance.

Management of obesity

The best way to manage obesity is dieting and physical exercise. The same can be helpful for preventing obesity for others. One must make healthier choice of food and must perform physical activities on regular basis. One must limit intake of sugars and fats. Eating fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains will be helpful. According to World Health Organisation, performing physical activities for at least 60 minutes a day for children and 150 minutes per week for adults can be helpful to reduce or prevent obesity.

WHO Response

Adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2004, the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health describes the actions needed to support healthy diets and regular physical activity. The Strategy calls upon all stakeholders to take action at global, regional and local levels to improve diets and physical activity patterns at the population level.

The Political Declaration of the High Level Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases of September 2011, recognizes the critical importance of reducing the level of exposure of individuals and populations to unhealthy diet and physical inactivity. The political declaration commits to advance the implementation of the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, including, where appropriate, through the introduction of policies and actions aimed at promoting healthy diets and increasing physical activity in the entire population.

WHO has developed the "Global Action Plan for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases 2013-2020" which aims to achieve the commitments of the UN Political Declaration on NCDs which was endorsed by Heads of State and Government in September 2011. This action plan aims to build on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. The action plan will contribute to progress on 9 global NCD targets to be attained in 2025, including a 25% relative reduction in premature mortality from NCDs by 2025 and a halting of the global obesity rates to those of 2010.