According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity is characterized by "abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health." Basically, obesity is the result of too much calorie intake relative to energy expenditure for several years.
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| What is overweight and obesity |
To characterize obesity and overweight, body mass index (BMI) is used, this is the most useful, though approximate tool to measure overweight and obesity in an adult population. This index is calculated by dividing weight (kg) by height squared (m2). We talk about being overweight when it is between 25 and 29.9, while obesity equal to or greater than 30, and morbidly obese if it equals or exceeds 40.
The main disadvantage of this measurement tool is that it gives no information on the distribution of fat reserves. But when the fat is mainly concentrated in the belly area, the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease is higher than if concentrated in the hips and thighs.
The proportion of obese people has increased over the past 30 years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of obesity has reached epidemic proportions worldwide. The increase in the average weight was observed in all age groups, in all socio-economic groups.
Obesity can increase the risk of several chronic diseases. Health problems begin to appear after about 10 years of excess weight.
How fat is distributed on the body, rather than in the abdomen or hips, plays a key role in the onset of disease. The accumulation of fat in the abdomen, typical of abdominal obesity is much riskier than the more uniform distribution (gynoid obesity). Men have on average 2 times more abdominal fat than premenopausal women.
Obese people have a lower quality of life and vieillissant9 shorter than people who have a weight santé.D besides life expectancy, the health professionals predict that today's youth are the first generation of children whose life expectancy does not exceed that of their parents, mainly because of the increasing incidence of childhood obesity.
Finally, obesity can become a psychological burden. Some people feel excluded from society because of the criteria proposed by the beauty industry and the media. Given the difficulty to lose their excess weight, others will live great distress or anxiety, which can go up to depression.




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