a world-wide epidemic
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Obesity has become a full-blown worldwide epidemic, affecting more than 250 million adults including 31 percent of the U.S. adult population, according to the director of UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research in Finland.
Dr. Mikael Fogelholm told MSNBC in May that the problem is only going to get worse, since children are showing signs of obesity at much younger ages than their parents have. A steady, and in some cases life-long, diet of high-fat fast foods and idle hours in front of the television and computer, has taken its toll on children, he said.
If you are overweight, which 34 percent of U.S. adults are, you are more likely to develop health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, certain types of cancer, gout (joint pain caused by excess uric acid), and gallbladder disease. Three hundred thousand people die each year due to obesity-related causes, making it the second-leading cause of death after smoking. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some cancers.
Being overweight can also cause problems such as sleep apnea (interrupted breathing during sleep) and osteoarthritis (wearing away of the joints). The more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have health problems.
Weight loss tips can help improve the harmful effects of being overweight. However, many overweight people have difficulty reaching their healthy body weight. Studies show that you can improve your health by losing as little as 10 to 20 pounds.
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Criticism of obese individuals is the last socially acceptable form of prejudice in the United States, according to an article in the American Thoracic Society journal on the management of obesity.
One study showed that 63 percent of family practice physicians attributed obesity to a lack of will power, and more than one-third described their obese patients as "lazy." Overweight and obesity are very serious problems in the U.S. A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report indicated that 65 percent of all Americans are either overweight or obese. The number of obese Americans has more than doubled in the last 20 years.
As studies have shown, the problem can lead to type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and sleep apnea, among other illnesses. The article's expert author points out that, when they visit a physician, few patients consider weight to be their main problem. He advises doctors to listen carefully to the problem that the patient wants to discuss. Also, he advises that physicians provide the same care to obese patients as to non-obese.
While encouraging the patient to lose weight, they should be sure to treat their other conditions. In addition, the doctor should never provide medical care at the expense of the patient's self-esteem. Although pharmacotherapy for weight loss in the past has been fraught with inappropriate practices, two drugs, Sibutramine and Orlistat, have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use with patients with high body mass index of 30 or more (27 with other related problems).
In dozens of randomized clinical trials, these two drugs have been shown to be safe and effective in properly selected patients, producing weight loss of from 8 to 10 percent over 2 years. After outlining specific guidelines that physicians can offer to patients to help them improve their behavior necessary for effective weight loss, the author points out that one of the best services a physician can provide to an obese patient is to remind them their self worth is not measured on the scale; it is independent of body weight. The article appears in the first issue for August 2003 of the American Thoracic Society's peer-reviewed American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Source: EurekAlert!
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Criticism of obese individuals is last socially acceptable form of prejudice
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Last update: February 5, 2006