Objective

The aim of this report is to t discuss the definition of obesity, the possible cause of obesity, the
effects of obesity on our health and the solutions on how to overcome obesity.

Introduction

Nowadays, peoples are forced to deal with so many kinds of diseases and one with them is a
disease known as obesity. World Health Organization (2011) defines obesity as abnormal growth
or excessive fat accumulation, which comes as a threat to someone health. Obesity is measured
using the body mass index or BMI where the total weight in kilograms is divided by heights in
meters square. As a result, if a person with a BMI of 30 and above is generally considered as
obese. In Malaysia for example, 4 out of 10 adults aged 18 and over having overweight, of which
22.4% were Malays, 25.6% India, 19.5% China and 32.5% were of other races, Bernama (2010).
There are many causes of obesity and its effects on a person who have it, but there are ways to
counter obesity. Hence, this report will describe the causes and effects of obesity as well as
measures to overcome them.

Causes

Obesity is not a disease that occurs on its own. However, there are several causes that can cause
a person to experience obesity. Therefore, this part will identify the causes of obesity.

The common cause of obesity is an energy imbalance. Energy imbalances happen when
people take calories more than are required by their body. Each person has individually daily
caloric needs that called as the Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR. Then, if a person takes in more
calories than what their BMR, it will increase weight. This is happen because, the excess calories
will be converted into fat and if this continues for an extended period of time, it will lead to
obesity.
 Besides energy imbalance, an inactive lifestyle also can be the cause of obesity. Today,
people spend more time working in the office facing the computer, watching television and
surfing the internet. Because of that, they become lazy and less concerned about healthy lifestyle.
In addition, the other reason for not being inactive is relying on the car instead of walking, less
physical demand at work or at home because of modern technology and conveniences, and lack
of physical education classes in school for children. Researcher argued that, spending more than
2 hour a day of watching television has been linked to obesity. It is obvious that people who are
inactive are more likely to gain weight because they did not burn up the calories that they take in
from their food and drinks.

Apart from an inactive lifestyle, genetic factors and family history are also a cause of
obesity. Overweight and obesity tend to run in families. Genes may affect the amount of fat that
stored in our body. Moreover, the families also share food and physical activity habits and a link
exists between genes and the environment. The chances of being obese are greater if one or both
parents are suffering from obesity or overweight. Children who have overweight or obese parents
that eat high-calorie food are likely become overweight too. This is because the children adopt
the habits of their parents. It is clear that genes and family history factors may also be a cause of
obesity.

The other cause of obesity is environment. Our environment actually does not support
healthy lifestyles but in fact, it encourages obesity. The reason is there was a lack of
neighborhood sidewalks and safe places for recreation in the living environment, thus make
people hard to be physically active. The environment of work like long work hours and spending
more time in office makes people often say that they do not have time to do exercise. This type
of environment can influence our life and also our health. So, it is true that the environment also
can lead to obesity.
 Next, obesity can also occur if someone does not have enough sleep. Studies found that
the less people sleep, the more likely they are to be overweight or obese. For example, people
who sleeping 5 hours a night are much more likely to become obese compared to people who
sleep 7-8 hours a night. This is because, people who sleep less are preferred for eating food that
are higher in calories and carbohydrates, which can lead to overeating, weight gain, and obesity
over time. Also, people who did not get enough sleep regularly have a higher level of hormone
that called Ghrelin which causes hunger and lower levels of Leptin hormone that helps curb
hunger. It is clear that, lack of sleep is one cause of obesity.

Taking too much of medicines also can be a cause of obesity. Certain medicines such as
corticosteroids, antidepressants, and seizure medicines may cause a person to gain weight. It is
because; those medicines can slow down the rate at which our body burns calories, increase our
appetite, or cause our body to hold on extra water. All of these can lead to weight gain than in a
long period of time it can become obesity.

Effects

There are varieties of adverse effects caused by obesity. This is so because, obesity can be
likened to a magnet that attracting the diseases.

First, the effect of obesity is it can disturb the respiratory function. The fat tissue
accumulation impairs respiratory function in children and adults. It can increase the work of
breathing. This is due to the reductions in both chest wall compliance and respiratory muscle
strength. This creates an imbalance between the demand on the respiratory muscles and their
capacity to generate tension, which lead to the perception of increased breathing effort. That’s
why people that suffer from obesity are tending to breathe more quickly than normal.
 Next, the other effect of obesity is asthma. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of
the airways, which associated with reversible airway obstruction and increased airway
responsiveness to a variety of stimuli. The association between asthma and obesity is particularly
worrisome in children. The obesity epidemic may lead to an increased in the number of young
adults with severe asthma since obesity is a predictor of unremitting asthma after puberty and
worse asthma control.

Lastly, obesity also affects the psychology and emotions. People suffering from obesity
have low self-esteem. They feel that they are despicable and ugly. Therefore, most obese people
are spending more time sitting at home because they were embarrassed to hang out with normal
people. They fear being ridiculed, and this can cause them to become depressed and emotionally
disturbed. It is clear that obese people always have emotionally and psychology disturbed
because the size of their body.

Solutions

The solutions of obesity are solely depends on individual parameters. As old adage says
prevention is better than cure. So the best ways to prevent obesity is prevent the obesity from the
beginning like control the calories intakes, adopting a healthy lifestyle, and keep away from
stress and depressions. However, for those who already facing with obesity problem, there also
have solutions.

Regular exercise and a healthy diet are important to maintain body weight. Most people
can lose weight by eating a healthier and exercise more. Even modest weight loss can help in
improving someone health. When dieting, people should make the healthy ways of eating such as
eating more vegetables, more fruits, reduce cholesterol, and reduces sweet food as part of their
everyday routine. This is important to ensure a consistent and positive result.
 Other ways to cope with obesity is by medications and herbal remedies. There are many
diet products including herbal remedies. Usually obese or overweight people can lose between 5
to 10 pounds by taking these methods. However, it is recommend talking with the physicians
first before using over-the-counter or herbal remedies. This is crucial because most of these
products do not work and some can be dangerous. So people are advised to be careful when
taking diet product.

Weight-loss surgery also can be done to help obese people reduce their weight. These
solutions can be considered as the last step to choose because weight-loss surgery is very risky.
The most common weight-loss surgery is Laparoscopic gastric banding and Gastric bypass
surgery. Laparoscopic gastric banding is the surgery that the surgeon places a band around the
upper part of the stomach, creating the small pouch to hold food. The band work as a limiter
which limits how much food intake by making the person feels full after eating a small amount
of food. Gastric bypass surgery help reduce weight by changing how the stomach and small
intestine handle the food. Usually people who did this surgery will not be able to eat as much as
before because their body cannot absorb all the calories and other nutrient from the food. Most
people that taking this method are able to reduce weight but the problem is some people are
throwing up when eating more than their new small stomach can hold.

Conclusions

In conclusions,
References

National Heart, Lung and blood institute. Retrieved January 18, 2011 from
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/obe/obe_causes.html

Weightloss. Retrieved January 19, 2011 from

http://weightloss.about.com/od/obesityhealth/a/blobcause.htm

All About Life Challenges. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from

http://www.allaboutlifechallenges.org/effects-of-obesity-faq.htm

Weight loss. Retrieved February 11, 2011 from http://weight-loss.emedtv.com/obesity/health-

effects-of-obesity.html

Dr. François Maltais. CMAJ.JAMC .(2006). Retrieved February 16, 2011 from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1435949/

How to prevent obesity. Retrieved February 27, 2011 from

http://www.righthealth.com/topic/How_To_Prevent_Obesity/overview/adam20#ixzz1FJhLwC4
w