Give Obesity the Boot!
Your Weight Loss Solution
Nothing can make you feel as beautiful as healthy does!
angie flores
Reduced Life Expectancy
The first problem of obesity to focus on is the one that many obese people want to touch upon the least - you are less likely to live a long life if you have a BMI of over 35. The life insurance companies have known this for a long time. They know that, for life insurance purposes, obesity is correlated with a higher risk of mortality due to complications associated with obesity.
According to a study by leading researchers of the LAP-BAND System procedure, the relative risk of dying is increased at a BMI of 35 or higher and, at a BMI of 40, the risk is nearly three times that of people who have normal weight. The risk increases very steeply from a BMI of 40 and upward.
Co-Morbidities: Diseases & Conditions Correlated with Obesity
The Centers for Disease control in Atlanta, Georgia, estimated that there were between 111,000 and 380,000 deaths from obesity-related diseases in the United States during the year 2000. Even those under the age of 18 are being affected by obesity. There is a long list of illnesses that are either caused by obesity or are made worse by obesity. These include, but are not limited to the following.
• Diabetes • Heart Disease
• Cancer (Breast, Gastrointestinal, Prostate and Endometrial)
• High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
• Asthma
• Sleep Apnea (Obstructive)
• Gallstones
• Infertility
• Depression
• Low Back Pain • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
• Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)
• Cardiomyopathy
• Hypoventilation Syndromes
• Urinary Incontinence
• Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease
• Arthritis (Weight Bearing)
• Thromboembolism
• Immobility
• Ulcers (Venous/Stasis)
Medical Implications
Being overweight has many negative implications. The most serious consequence is the increased risk of illness and death with increasing severity of obesity.
Morbid Obesity is associated with an increased risk of death and a multitude of health problems which can all be improved or even cured after weight loss. Statistics show that you are not alone. Obesity is an epidemic in the U.S., affecting nearly 30% of Americans. Specifically, 2% of men and 6% of women are considered morbidly obese.
Over 300,000 deaths a year are caused from obesity-related illnesses. That is 3 times more than the number of people who die each year from beast cancer and colon cancer combined! Therefore , the need to lose weight is not simply cosmetic, but lifesaving.
Psychological Implications
Being severely obese also has serious psychological and social repercussions, such as: disapproval and lectures from family and friends, sneers and remarks from strangers, not wanting to go out in public because of being self-conscious and not being able to enjoy activities that most people take for granted like going to the movies because the seats are too small, or even taking an airline flight for vacation because the accommodations are too uncomfortable. All these experiences repeated everyday for years results in an understandable feeling of depression, anxiety and feelings of low self-esteem.
Social Implications
Due to the societal worship of "thinness" and the ignorance that most people have about the causes of obesity, it is not surprising that being overweight is still the target of great amount of discrimination. It doesn't matter what gender, race, religion or sexual preference you are, society maintains discrimination against a person's weight. The general societal belief that obesity is caused by a lack of self- discipline or moral weakness has propagated such behavior. More importantly, this applies to employment, where a job or a promotion is denied simply because of weight. Many scientific studies have been performed to prove this.
Morbid obesity is a chronic medical illness that is not recognized by most of the society and even many physicians. We strive to educate the medical and non-medical
