Obesity occurs when a person has an abnormally increased amount of fat stored in their body. Excessive protein, carbohydrate and fat consumption causes weight gain. In some people, this is the result of a genetic and biological predisposition. The best treatment is for such people life-long healthy eating and physical activity. Today, obesity is now classified as an illness more than being an aesthetic problem.
How Is Daily Calorie Intake Need Calculated?
For men, their weight is multiplied by 30, and 25 for women.
For example, the daily calorie intake needed for a man weighing 80kg to maintain the same weight is 2400kcal (80×30) and for a woman of the same weight 2000kcal (80×25).
Caused of Overweight / Obesity
- Genetic Factors: People raised in an overweight family are 30% at more risk of being overweight.
- Ageing: As people age, muscle mass decreases and the metabolism slows.
- Poor Eating Habits: Excessive consumption of ready foods such as fast food and crisps.
- Sedentary Lifestyles: Spending too much time sitting in front of TVs, computers and at desks.
- Physiological Factors: Stress, unhappiness or overeating after a strict diet, some illnesses and medication, pregnancy and alcohol use.
What Does Waist Size Show?
If the waist of a man larger than 40 inches or 34.5 inches for women, then that person is classified as obese. Obesity becomes even more dangerous if fat begins to build up around the stomach and internal organs as this indicates greatly increased risk of some other illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, clogged heart and brain arteries and associated heart attacks and strokes.
Increased Risk High Risk
Men 37 inches 40 inches
Women 31.5 inches 34.6 inches
Benefits of Weight-loss
There are many benefits to be gained by losing weight:
- Lower risk of cardiovascular illnesses.
- Increased levels of healthy cholesterol.
- Lower cholesterol and blood lipids.
- Reduced blood pressure.
- Easier to control diabetes.
- Prevention or delay of latent diabetes becoming fully blown.
- Better self-image thanks to better aesthetics.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
The Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to calculate how overweight a person is. It is calculated by dividing your weight in kg by your height in meters:
BMI Classifications:
UNDERWEIGHT: 19
NORMAL: 19-24
OVERWEIGHT: 25-29
CLASS 1 OBESITY: 30-39
CLASS 2 OBESITY: 40+
* Can vary with age.
How Should Diets to Treat Obesity Look Like?
- Weight-loss goals should be realistic and reachable.
- The number of calories burnt should has to be greater than the number of calories consumed.
- An ideal diet should be a low-calorie diet including foods from all food groups. Diets based on a single food group (vegetables, fruit or meat, etc.) are deficient in vital nutrients that your body needs, and can lead to significant illnesses.
- In practice, the total amount of a calories a person consumes daily is calculated and the number of calories to they are to consume on the diet is calculated by subtracting 600-800 calories from that figure.
- A person has to consume 7700kcal less than needed to maintain their weight to lose 1kg.
- Obesity is an illness that requires lengthy, often life-long, treatment and, if left untreated, becomes a life-long chronic illness.
The Importance of Psychology in Obesity Treatment
A person who has a strong motivation to lose weight has a higher chance of maintaining their diet and achieving their weight target as several external factors can often de-rail a person’s diet:
- Family relationships.
- Professional relationships, working hours, overtime, tense, stressful working conditions.
- School/Exam stress
- Social relationships, trips, holidays, special days, after-work meals, socialising.
- Emotional ups and downs.
You should draw your own personal boundaries and make necessary lifestyle changes to make it easier to say ‘no’. If not, your diet can only ever have a beginning and end and any weight-loss will be regained.
Eating is a basic need that we also need to pay attention to while also paying attention to our own personal biology and circumstances. However, you have to be very careful as any slight change in our lives can disrupt this balance, or, in other terms, beginning to prioritise ourselves less. Having a good and positive state of mind also means rediscovering your own self-value.
Physical and Psychological Problems Caused by Obesity
- Cardiologic illnesses (angina, heart attacks, etc.)
- Type 2 diabetes.
- Hypertension.
- Strokes.
- Cancer (uterus, breast, prostrate).
- Increased blood lipid and cholesterol levels.
- Gall bladder illnesses and stones.
- Sleep apnoea and other respiratory problems.
- Irregular periods
- Reduced sexual stamina / performance.
- Osteoarthritis.
- Depression, emotional stress and unhappiness.
- Social exclusion, social anxiety and social hang ups.
- Increased risk of death.
The Importance and Role of Exercise in Overcoming Obesity
Exercise is the second most important component of losing weight by increasing the number of calories the body burns and any weight-loss programme neglecting to include exercise has a low probability of success.
A person on average has to take 7500-10,000 steps a day to maintain their current weight. To lose weight, an obese person’s exercise programme should include cardiovascular aerobic exercises that work many muscle groups such as walking, cycling, and swimming and not require weight-lifting. A person should exercise 45-60 minutes 3 times per week or 30 minutes 4-5 days per week.
