Obesity has been defined as an excess in body fat relative to lean body muscle. In human, obesity is the result of the interactions of many factors. One factor is our genes. This means that we are obese because our parents and other close relatives were obese. Thus, obesity tends to run in families.
Another factor is our environment or the society we live in. Modern diets tend to be high in fat and in calories. Combined with physical inactivity, our modern diet has resulted in an epidemic of overweight individuals.
The most common parameter used to define and measure obesity is the body mass index or BMI. BMI is a number obtained by dividing our weight in kilograms by our height (in meters square). By definition, a person with a BMI of 40 is considered morbidly obese. A BMI of 40 is about 100 pounds over our ideal weight. Below is a BMI chart, if you know your height in inches and your weigh, you can find your BMI.
Morbid obesity affects every major system in our body. Some of the diseases caused by obesity include; diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, depression, arthritis, infertility in women, cancer, reflux, asthma, migraines, and stress incontinence. This are only a few of the medical problems directly caused by obesity. As a result, 300,000 preventable deaths occur annually, second only to preventable deaths caused by smoking. More than 50% of all deaths among adults US woman can be attributed to obesity.
But, there is hope, bariatric surgery has gone through a lot of innovations in the last decade. At Advanced Surgical Weight Loss, we specialize in safer, less risky, minimally invasive procedures for the treatment of morbid obesity.
Have more questions? Come to one of our free seminars and learn about the latest weight loss procedures and benefits.