Overweight and obesity

Overweight and obesity are on the rise. We are seeing our people getting big in front of our own eyes, including our children. Obesity is not only affecting the adult population. Childhood obesity is a current, real and continuous problem that we will have to confront.

Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A crude population measure of obesity is the body mass index (BMI), a person’s weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of his or her height (in metres). A person with a BMI of 30 or more is generally considered obese. A person with a BMI equal to or more than 25 is considered overweight.

Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Once considered a problem only in high-income countries, overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the rise in low and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings.

Obesity is also considered to be more than a risk factor and in itself is a disease. A disease is generally thought of as an abnormal state, or a condition that prevents the body from functioning properly.

Just as diabetes results from a malfunction of the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, obesity results from a malfunction of the ability to regulate energy balance. Obesity is associated with many other diseases, such as heart diseases and stroke, diabetes and cancer.

Extra weight makes you more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Both of those conditions make heart disease or stroke more likely.

Most people who have type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. You can cut your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by losing weight, eating a balanced diet, getting adequate sleep, and exercising more.

Cancers of the colon, breast (after menopause), endometrium (the lining of the uterus), kidney, and esophagus are linked to obesity. Some studies have also reported links between obesity and cancers of the gallbladder, ovaries, and pancreas.

Obesity is an epidemic, and just like all epidemics, they need to be stopped before they go out of control and infect everyone. Fighting obesity is vital, because if obesity is not stopped, then all the medical advancements to make one’s life healthier and longer will be useless.

Dr Rosmond Adams, MD, is a medical doctor and a public health specialist with training in bioethics and ethical issues in medicine, the life sciences and research. He is a lecturer of medical ethics.

He is the head of Health Information, Communicable Disease and Emergency Response at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). He is also a member of the World Health Organization Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of NCDs.

(The views expressed here are not written on behalf of CARPHA nor the WHO). You may contact him at adamsrosmond@gmail.com