In the busy and fast-paced technological era, the average person often lacks time. It is more convenient to eat out at fast-food restaurants rather than cook a healthy meal at home.
Additionally, it is hard to spare a thought for exercise after work with office and project deadlines looming. Unfortunately, this type of lifestyle has led to the worldwide epidemic of an increasingly obese population.
According to the WHO in 2016, more than 650 million people are obese. It is a growing problem for both developing and developed countries around the world.
Aside from health risks, there are indirect costs to being obese such as economic costs from lost productivity at work. An obese individual may have more sick days off, being less able to work at full capacity than their non-obese counterparts. This translates to a higher cost of being obese.
A study of US adults shows that per person medical spending was $2,741 higher for obese individuals than non-obese individuals. That is a huge number, more than RM11,000 per year!
A study conducted in Sweden shows that wages lost from decreased productivity are estimated to be €95,400 over a lifetime. That is a loss of about 4 years of annual wages in Sweden.
Fortunately for us, this disease is one that is preventable and can be managed given the right steps.
What is obesity?
Obesity is a disease where the body has accumulated too much fat. This is reflected in the numbers which appear on the weighing scale. The number on the weighing scale does not tell you if you are obese.
Typically, weight and height are used to measure the body mass index (BMI).
This is a measurement that approximates body fat.
According to the Malaysian Clinical Practice Guidelines on Obesity, an individual with a BMI of more than 27.5 kg/m2 is considered obese. It is estimated that 30.6% of Malaysians fall into the category of obese.
This is alarming, as obesity can lead to an increased risk of developing diseases and can potentially shorten the lifespan.
What are the health risks?
Most people know that obesity leads to many health risks.
Obesity can lead to the development of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
These are diseases that are primarily caused by a person’s lifestyle choices. Some conditions are directly attributed to the excess weight in obese individuals.
Examples are:
Type II Diabetes Mellitus
The body of an obese individual may not be able to properly respond to insulin after meals.
This leads to a phenomenon called “insulin resistance”, where the body is unable to maintain blood sugar levels at the normal range causing diabetes.
Dyslipidemia
This is a condition where there are high amounts of fat in the blood.
It is common in about 60-70% of obese individuals.
This condition increases the chance of developing cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks.
Hypertension
The body of an obese individual will undergo changes that can contribute to an increase in blood volume.
This will lead to higher pressures in the blood vessels, contributing to higher blood pressures.
If left untreated, high blood pressures can cause damage to the heart and kidney.
Coronary heart disease
An obese person tends to have higher levels of bad cholesterol in the body.
This in addition to high amounts of fat in the blood can accumulate in the vessel walls of our heart. Over time, the vessel walls will harden and narrow.
This may cause occasional chest pains or even cause a heart attack.
Sleep apnea
In obese patients, excess fat accumulates in the tissues around the pharynx, which is our throat.
These tissues can block the passage of air into the airway during sleep.
This causes a drop in the oxygen levels in the body and can lead to various complications such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
Hip and knee pain
The excess weight on the body can overload the joints.
In addition to a decreased ability to move around, it can lead to osteoarthritis.
This is a condition where the protective cartilage of the knee or hip joint erodes, causing pain.
Benefits of losing weight?
Undertaking the goal of losing weight is an uphill battle. It can be difficult to transition from engaging in minimal physical activity to exercising daily.
Additionally, obese individuals may have difficulty starting an exercise regime because of issues related to their weight.
An example is knee pain. Decreasing food consumption and fighting food cravings can also be difficult.
Despite the difficulties, the result of an obese individual losing even 10% of body weight is highly beneficial.
Here are some reasons why:
Reduced blood pressure levels
Let us say an obese person with hypertension has a blood pressure reading of 145/100 mmHg.
This is a high reading, and they will most likely be put on medication.
If they manage to lose some weight, they may see a drop in blood pressure levels of 10/20 mmHg.
This will bring their blood pressure down to a reading of 135/80 mmHg.
This decrease will help lessen the damage to the heart, blood vessels, and kidney.
Reduced lipid levels
When you go for a blood test, there will be a lipid panel that measures the fats in your blood.
These are total cholesterol, LDL (bad) cholesterol, triglycerides (bad fat), and HDL (good) cholesterol.
In obese individuals, bad cholesterol and fat would increase, whereas good cholesterol decreases.
By engaging in weight loss, this lipid panel may show signs of improvement.
Examples:
- Total cholesterol – 10% reduction
- LDL (bad) cholesterol – 15% reduction
- Triglycerides – 30% reduction
- HDL (good) cholesterol – 10% increase
These numbers are beneficial to reduce the risk of heart disease!
Weight loss can potentially decrease the risk of getting diabetes by 50%.
If an individual already has diabetes, they can hope to see improvements in their blood sugar levels by 30-50%. For example, an individual with fasting blood sugar levels of 11.0 mmol/L may see it drop to 7.7 mmol/L.
This can decrease the risk of developing diabetic complications such as kidney damage and vision problems.
Obesity is a major health issue and steps can be taken to tackle it.
If you have worries about your weight, do speak to a doctor who can guide you in managing it.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK305895/
- Clinical practice guidelines for managing Obesity 2003 by Ministry of Health Malaysia
- The National Health and Morbidity Survey 2015 by Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409636/