Body mass index (BMI) is a simple index of weight-for-height that is used to classify overweight and obesity in adults. It is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms (divided) by the square of his height in meters (kg/m2).
Worldwide obesity has nearly doubled since 1980. In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese. 35% of adults aged 20 and over were overweight in 2008, and 11% were obese. 65% of the world’s population lives in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight. More than 40 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2012.
)Fact sheet No311, WHO media center, August 2014
The major cause of for being obese or being overweight is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended. This is mainly due to an increased intake of fat-rich food; and a decrease in physical activity is better due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many occupations, changes in modes of transportation, and different lifestyle and behaviors. Some of these habits are:
1- Longer durations of watching TV.
2- Unhealthy eating habits.
3- Fast Food.
Obesity is preventable in adults and children by assuring healthy way of living; healthy diet as in more food rich in fibers and proteins and less rich in carbohydrates and fats, regularly exercising and quitting the over sedentary behavior.
The controversial debate:
According to new guidelines released by the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and The Obesity Society in November 2013, doctors should consider obesity a disease and more actively treat obese patients for weight loss.
There is a great controversy whether obesity is a multi-metabolic and hormonal disease, or it is just a state of “drowning” into calories and describing it as a disease will have a psychological effect on the person himself and be a valid reason not to diet.
Those who are with describing obesity as a disease have their very valid reasons; one reason is the fact that being markedly overweight is clearly linked with several health problems. Some of these problems are risk factors for diseases, such as hypertension, abnormal blood lipid levels, and sleep apnea, which is one of the most common threatening risk for obesity. Others are specific diseases, such as heart attack, stroke, gallbladder disease, and osteoarthritis. Obesity is also a risk factor for some cancers, including those of the endometrium, breast, and colon.
Another reason for describing obesity as a disease has hidden financial aspects; maybe it will push health care payers, including private insurers and the government, to pay for anti-obesity services, including weight loss counseling programs, medications and all what it needs. This point of view claims that why should we pay thousands of dollars for major heart operations and refuse to pay for diet and anti-obesity services that may be the reason in the first place.
On the other hand, said Dr. D. L. Katz, in his article; Perspective: obesity is not a disease, Nature(508),Page:S57,Date published:(17 April 2014) , “this is a misguided urge to pathologies, this condition reflects society’s failure to come to terms with the need for prevention”.
The -against this description- people think that describing obesity as disease may make people feel they do not have to diet and believe they have no control over their weight. And the biggest concern here that people will take the easy route and give a medical label to problems related to behavior and lifestyle.
Two points of views with valid reasons and the debate is still opened …