Dr. Chandra Shekhar talks about one of the most discussed health topics, i.e., obesity. Learn about its causes and know how you can use these preventive measures to appropriately cut down your body weight.
What is obesity?
The health condition where any body weight of a person that is greater than 20% or more to his ideal body weight is called obesity. A very practical measure of one’s weight or average weight that an individual should possess is approximately calculated as height in centimeters minus 100 [w=h(cm)-100]. Now, on technical grounds, obesity can be defined in terms of body mass index.
What is body mass index? Well, it is body weight in kilograms divided by body surface area in meter square [BMI=w(kg)/BSA(m²)]. BMI of less than 25 (<25) is normal, between 25 and 30 (25-30) is overweight, and greater than 30 (>30) is obese.
What are the common causes of obesity?
- Hypothyroidism
- Lack of physical activity or sedentary living style
- Dietary component forms – excess of carbohydrates & fats and less protein
- Stress
- Boredom
- Lack of sleep
What medical issues arise due to obesity?
- Diabetes (high sugar)
- Hypertension (BP)
- Stroke and heart attack
- Knee joint pain (osteoarthritis)
- Ill social factors (embarrassment)
- Lack of desire to have sex (loss of libido)
How to prevent obesity?
- Changing dietary habits or supplements
- Reducing fat intake to less than 30% of total food component
- Reducing carbohydrate intake to less than 50% of total food component
- Increasing protein intake to more than 20% of total food component
- Increasing your physical activity (30 min. of brisk walking daily)
What are the surgical measures for obesity prevention?
- Gastric bypass
- Gastric ligation
