overweight
Causes of increased weight – and what helps against it
© Suzanne Tucker/Shutterstock
Obesity can promote various diseases and is often due to too much unhealthy eating and lack of exercise. Here you can find out what helps.
What is obesity?
One speaks of being overweight when body weight is no longer in a normal relation to body size. Whether you are in a healthy weight range is determined by the so-called body mass index (“BMI”). Obesity can promote numerous diseases – For example, high blood pressure or chronic heart failure (“heart failure”). An unhealthy diet and a lack of exercise are often the causes.
Obesity is a big problem, especially in industrialized nations: In Germany alone, around 67 percent of men and 53 percent of women are overweight, a similarly alarming picture emerges for children at around 25 percent. And these numbers have been rising steadily for decades. The same applies to obesity (“obesity”) – this means severe overweight with a BMI of 30 or more.
Am I overweight?
The main factor in determining whether someone is overweight is their own height. The BMI is most commonly used for this: The body weight in kilograms is calculated by dividing the square of the height in square meters. The World Health Organization (WHO) uses the following figures to assess the results:
BMI:
< 18.5 = underweight
18.5 – 24.9 = normal weight
25 – 29.9 = overweight
30 – 34.9 = obesity grade I
35 – 39.9 = obesity grade II
> 40 = grade III obesity
If you want to know if your BMI is considered healthy, you can use our BMI calculator here. There you will also find a table broken down by height and weight.
Important: The BMI is only of limited use as a guide when assessing because he doesn’t include physique and muscle mass in the calculation. As a result, even very muscular people can be considered overweight.
Dangerous belly fat
There are different body types related to where the excess fat sits:
- Android Type / Apple Type: The fat is increasingly located on the torso, e.g. B. the abdomen. Men are mostly affected by this.
- Gynoid Type / Pear Type: The fat is mainly on the buttocks and legs – women are mostly affected.
The so-called visceral fat, i.e. abdominal fat, is the most dangerous according to study results: It increases the risk of possible complications such as diabetes.
Causes: how does obesity come about?
Put simply Obesity occurs when you consistently consume more calories than you expend. There can be various reasons for this. These include:
- nutrition: The most obvious cause of obesity is your own eating habits. Some people have a disturbed feeling of fullness – the brain signals too late that enough food has been eaten, so sufferers tend to overeat in general. The second factor – and the much more common cause of obesity – is the choice of what we eat: There is an oversupply of sugary sweets and snacks, and fast food is also hard to avoid. If you don’t pay attention to your diet, you quickly risk becoming overweight.
- movement: Another common trigger is lack of exercise. Most people work all day sitting down, a number of trips (e.g. to go shopping) are covered by car, at home you then sit in front of the television or the PC. This way of life has many health disadvantages in addition to a probable weight gain, e.g. B. also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
- genetics: In fact, genes also seem to play a role when it comes to obesity. For example, some people have a genetically reduced basal metabolic rate. This is the amount of energy the body uses at rest. As a result, they gain weight faster if they eat just a little more than their body needs.
- stress and grief: Many people overeat for psychological reasons such as sadness, stress or even pure boredom.
- Other diseases: Another underlying disease can also cause obesity, for example an underactive thyroid.
- medication: There are drugs that increase appetite. These include above all products that interfere with the hormone balance, e.g. B. the pill or cortisone-containing medication.
- social factors: Your own personal background can also promote obesity – if you e.g. For example, as a child, you always had to empty your plate even though you were already full. Studies have also shown that obesity is more common in socially disadvantaged groups.
What are the symptoms of being overweight?
Obesity manifests itself through various health problems. These include:
- Joint problems (e.g. hip and knee)
- back pain
- diabetes
- circulatory disorders
- high blood pressure
- cardiac insufficiency up to a heart attack
- Shortness of breath from lack of oxygen (the lungs cannot work enough to supply the body with enough oxygen)
- Sleep apnea (pauses in breathing during sleep), resulting in tiredness during the day
- snoring
- heavy sweating
- depressions
Treatment: What to do if you are overweight?
Treatment for obesity depends on the cause. Usually the focus is on lifestyle changes in terms of diet and exercise. Doctors or nutritionists can help here so that you can lose the excess pounds. In general, no diet is recommended, but a varied diet, which should consist primarily of complex carbohydrates (e.g. cereals), fruit and vegetables, dairy products, fish and some lean meat. You can find out how to create a nutrition plan here. The aim is to achieve a negative calorie balance – you take in less energy than you use.
The WHO recommends 150 minutes of sport per week. Endurance sports that are easy on the joints, such as swimming or walking, are well suited for overweight people. At the same time, muscles should be built up through strength training. Otherwise, possible underlying diseases such as hypothyroidism must be treated, before weight loss can begin. Surgery and behavioral therapy can also be used in obesity to help the person adjust their lifestyle.