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  • OBESITY TREATMENT

Gaining too much weight is not only a serious threat to your health, it can also limit your physical abilities and make you susceptible to serious illnesses. If you still have not made the transition to a healthy diet, it is time to consider changing your eating habits.

What is obesity?

Obesity can be defined as the excessive and abnormal accumulation of body fat. If a man or woman’s bodyweight is respectively 20% and 30% higher than it should be, he or she is considered obese. Adipose (fat) tissue excretes hormones and chemicals that affect the entire system. Some of these excretions increase appetite, elevate limits of feeling full and cause obesity to progress. For the effective diagnosis and treatment of obesity, firstly it is quite important to know where fat accumulates in the body. Obesity can generally be separated into two categories – apple and pear shaped. In apple type obesity, fat accumulates in the belly. Whereas in per shaped obesity, fat accumulates around the hips. Studies have shown that, compared to the hips, fat in the belly area is more likely to increase risk of developing dangerous health problems, especially cardiac disease. Men with a waistline of more than 94 cm are considered to have increased risk, while waistlines in excess of 102 cm are seen as high risk. In women, waistlines greater than 80 cm is increased risk and 88 cm is high risk.

obesity treatment

Obesity figures double…

Obesity has become one of the main health problems in developed countries around the world. According to World Health Organization figures, 2 billion people on the planet are overweight, with 700 thousand of these being clinically obese. Unless serious measures are taken, future generations will have to fight against problems caused by obesity.

How to implement obesity treatment?

The treatment method chosen for obese patients depends on the presence of other medical conditions and body mass index values. If a person’s BMI is less than 35% it is possible to lose weight with exercise and a healthy diet. Surgical methods are usually preferred for patients with BMI greater than 35%.

There are two main treatment methods for the increasingly prevalent medical condition known as obesity:

– Diet and exercise – Surgical operation

People usually feel anxious about obesity surgeries however, the risks involved in surgical operations performed at obesity clinics are rather low on condition that the procedures are executed by a team experienced in obesity surgery. People concerned about the risks of operation generally try to lose weight with diet and exercise however these methods alone might not always be adequate. Surgery might be necessary depending on the severity of conditions.

How is obesity measured?

The World Health Organization’s obesity scale is universally used to determine obesity. The figure is usually measured in Body Mass Index (BMI) value. To calculate BMI, divide your weight in kilograms (kg) by your height in meters (m) then divide the answer by your height again. Morbid obesity obesity is the condition when

Value Interval Result
BMI lower than 18.5 kg/m² Underweight
BMI between 18.5 – 24.9 kg/m² Normal (healthy weight)
BMI between 25 – 29.9 kg/m² Overweight
BMI between 30 – 39.9 kg/m² Obese (fat)
BMI over 40 kg/m² Morbid (severely) obese

Besides BMI, waist length is also used to determine the risk level of obesity. We now also know that adipose tissue is not merely a simple storage place. It also secretes hormones and chemicals that affect the entire body system. These excretions intensify obesity by increasing appetite and elevating limits of feeling full. Another important factor is where fat is building up in the body. Fat in the belly area is known to pose more risk than fat in the hip area. That is why apple type overweight patients have increased risk, especially in cardiac disease, compared to pear type patients.

In other words, men with a waistline circumference of more than 94 cm are considered to have an increased risk, while waist in excess of 102 cm are seen as high risk. In women, waist length greater than 80 cm is increased risk and 88 cm is high risk.