The term obesity may has different meaning to people but in general obesity is an excess amount of your total body fat. People are considered to be obese when their weight is more than twenty percent above their normal body weight.
One of the most common ways to measure obesity is by measuring your BMI (Body Mass Index). To be considered overweight, your BMI has to fall between 20 & 29.9. However, if your Body Mass Index is over 30, you will be considered obese.
Morbid Obesity
Someone will be considered as Mormid Obese if any of the following apply:
- If someone has a Body Mass Index of 40 and above
- More than a hundred pounds over their normal weight
- Fifty to one hundred pounds above your normal weight
- Extra weight that seriously interfere with normal body function your health
What Cause Obesity
Obesity mainly occurs when someone consumes much more calories than their body burns. For many of us, this really boils down to consuming too much of the wrong foods and not exercising enough. There are many other factors as well that can contribute to obesity that you may not think about.
Factors That Can Play A Major Role In Obesity
Your Age – One fact of life we have no control of is our age. Our metabolism slow as we get older and require less calories to sustain our weight. No wonder people at age 40 will gain weight eating and doing related activities as they did when they were in their 20’s.
Genetics – Even though obesity and thinness sometimes run in a family, all is not loss if your parents are obese. Take heart that many people genetically predisposed to obesity do not continue the trend as their parents and become obese. As a matter of fact, they have successfully lose weight and keep it off.
Gender – Unfortunate for women, overweight is more of a problem for them than men. Males have a greater metabolic rate at rest than women which help them burn greater energy while at rest.
As women approach postmenopausal years, their metabolic rate will decrease. This is the main reason why women will see an increase in their weight after menopause.
Medication – The side effects of drugs cannot be overlooked in your fight to lose weight. Drugs such as steroids and many antidepressants may contribute to the excess weight that you gain.
Life Style And Physical Activity – Apart from genes and other important factors mentioned previously that cause obesity, your environment plays an important role in your fight to lose weight. Pay attention to what you eat and be as active as possible to live a healthy life.
Illness – Although not common, there are certain illness that can cause obesity. If you have hormone issues such as hypothyroidism, depression and some rare disease of the brain, you can end up with an over eating problem. This will obviously lead to you being overweight.
Psychological Factors – Unfortunate for many of us, our psychological state of mind affects our eating habits which will can cause us to gain weight. We tend to eat in response mostly to our negative feelings like sadness, anger or boredom.
There is a direct relationship between weight management issues and our psychological and emotional state of mind. 30 percent of people seeking treatment for being overweight have a hard time controlling their binge eating habits.