Obesity Is A Health Risk

Obesity is a public health issue that has devastatingly developed into a global epidemic. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of overweight and obesity is dramatically increasing worldwide at an appalling and intimidating rate with more than 1.9 billion adults aged18 years and older being overweight in 2014. Out of these 1.9 billion adults being overweight, 600 million were classified obese. While the issue regarding overweight and obesity are prevalent in all countries, the National Health and Medical Research Council stated that Australia’s obesity levels have been developing faster than any countries in the world over the past thirty years. Although obesity may have been primarily considered as a personal concern three decades ago; it is overwhelmingly a societal concern today in Australia. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare have measured that in 2011 and 2012, around 63% of Australian adults had the characteristics of being overweight and corpulence. That is over a quarter of the adult population in Australia being obese.

The most severe stage of overweight, Obesity, is a serious medical condition that Australians cannot afford to ignore. Obesity has been linked to low self-esteem and a diminishment in the overall quality of life for the individual. (AIHW, 2010). More importantly, obesity can result in the development of musculo-skeletal problems, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, sleep apnea, Type 2 diabetes, and hypertension. (AIHW, 2010). Of these diseases, the

The media article ‘Shocking Statistics That Illustrate Australia’s Obesity Problem’ written by Leigh Campbell in the Huffington Post Australia Newspaper on February the 24th 2016 will be discussed throughout the report (Campbell, 2016). The newspaper article focuses on the alarming increase in numbers of obese individuals in Australia and the many health issues associated.

Obesity, according to the World Health Organisation, is defined as ‘abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health’ (World Health Organisation, 2014). The Conversation article presented by Sacks and Cameron states that close to two-thirds of Australians are overweight and that unhealthy diets contribute to more disease and illness in Australia than smoking (Sacks and Cameron 2014). It then points out that obesity the tripling of obesity in Australia is not merely due to a lack of personal responsibility but with all the changes occurring in the food environment and the increasing supply of cheap, energy-filled

Obesity is described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as unusual or extreme fat growth that presents a risk to a person’s health. Obesity is a complex disease with multiple drivers such as

What is not widely known is that the risk of health problems can start with someone who is slightly overweight and that the likelihood of problems with increases as someone becomes more and more overweight. These conditions can eventually cause long-term suffering for individuals and families, not to mention the costs for the health care can be extremely high. The number of things that can impact people’s health caused by obesity can increase including:

In a way, this book highlights the various consequences of obesity in significant detail. In the author's opinion, obesity does impact on an individual's health negatively from both a surgical and mental

(Bell, 2012) .Obesity levels in Australia over the past few years have exceeded beyond a point where something needs to be done sooner rather than later. There are many reasons behind the rise in obesity levels in Australia such as the

Overweight is often misinterpreted as obesity, but it has been proven that individuals such as bodybuilders and professional athletes can be overweight yet they do not suffer from obesity. Obesity refers to just excessive body fat whereas overweight refers to excessive body weight including water, bone, fat, and muscle. A certain amount of fat is needed to store energy, heat insulation, shock absorption, and other functions, but when men reach more than twenty-five percent body fat, and women reach more than thirty percent they are considered obese. A person’s body mass index (BMI) is measured by dividing body weight in kilograms by the square of body height in meters (Wilmore, et al., 2008).

Obesity has become one of the leading causes of premature death and illness in Australia, overtaking smoking (Core.monash.org, 2010). Obesity alone, is one of the major contributors to the shorter life expectancy of young generations today.

Obesity is a serious, chronic disease that can have a negative effect on many systems in your body such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and bone and joint disease. They are now the world's biggest killers, causing an estimated 35 million deaths each year.(betterhealth.vic.gov.au). Overweight and obesity are preventable diseases. And to treated or preventable them the best way is change life style. We need to know what is good for us and make the right choice.

Many people wonder how destructive can the effects of obesity be. First of all what is obesity? Obesity is an abnormal accumulation of body fat, usually 20% or more over an individual's ideal body weight. It is a very serious problem and is becoming very dangerous in today’s world. Obesity is now considered to be the second most preventable cause of death in America, with tobacco use being the first. As the use of tobacco rates continue to decline, the obesity rates continue to rise. With that being said, mortality numbers of obesity are going to rise compared to tobacco (Obesity Consequences 2012). Obesity causes many health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol, asthma, etc. There

World Health Organization (WHO) defines obesity as excessive fat that accumulates in the body and present serious risks associated with health. Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder particularly in developed countries like the USA. Obesity is measured in terms of body mass index (BMI) which is expressed as a person’s body weight per square (in meters) of the height. A BMI within a range of 18.5-24.9kg/m^2 is considered normal (lean body mass index). On the contrary, a BMI of 25-30kg/m^2 is considered overweight whereas a BMI of more than 30kg/m^2 is classified as obese.

Obesity can be defined as been overweight with excess accumulated body fat by subcutaneously and viscerally; resulting in a high body mass index (BMI) which has negative effects on health (Taylor et al, 2010). BMI is defined by dividing an individual’s weight in kilogram by the square of the individual’s height in meters (kg/m2) which indicates if the individual is underweight, overweight or obese; having a BMI equal to or more than 25kg/m2 is classed as overweight while having a

The epidemiology/pathophysiology behind obesity is anything but simple. Excess body weight is defines as a BMI of 25 to 28 for overweight and a BMI of 30 or more has long been recognized in association to type 2 diabetes and an increased risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but more recently through the literature review done by the World Cancer Research Fund, there appears to be “convincing evidence that body fatness is associated with an increased risk” of cancer (Renehan, 2008). Obesity has also been linked to an increased likelihood of metabolic complications, insulin resistance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, endocrine manifestations, obstructive sleep apnea, and gastrointestinal disorders.