There are significant health risks associated with obesity. The effects of obesity are far reaching. Little discussed, obesity (a little like alcoholism) affects not merely the person themselves, but the lives of all their family members and other close associates.
It is possible for an over weight or even obese person to live an active and healthy life. They, however, have to work at it much harder and with greater dedication that people of normal weight.
If you are over weight and not seriously attempting to improve your overall health including reducing your body fat, an early death awaits you. In all probability, it will be a drawn out, miserable path to death involving many different diseases and disorders along the way.
The following list does not claim to be comprehensive. In fairness, neither does it claim that all over weight people – or even any over weight or obese person – will contract all of the following ailments. Still, medical research and health experts have identified that over weight and obese people have significantly increased level of risk of contracting these ailments. You can be absolutely assured that some of them will apply to you. If not now, then sooner than you may think…
Obesity Health Risks
- High blood pressure, which may then also lead to:
- Headaches
- Ear noise & buzzing
- Tiredness
- Shortness of breath
- Excessive sweating
- Confusion
- Vision changes
- Nose bleeds
- Blood in urine
- Kidney damage / failure
- Strokes
- Elevated serum cholesterol levels
- Elevated LDL (“bad” cholesterol) levels
- Decreased HDL (“good” cholesterol) levels
- Elevated triglyceride levels
- Elevated blood glucose
- Decreased blood oxygen
- Decreased testosterone levels
- Heart disease and Strokes, potentially leading on to:
- Heart attack
- Congestive heart failure
- Sudden cardiac death
- Angina
- Arrhythmia
- Chest pain
- Brain haemorrhage
- Paralysis
- Cancers including (but not limited to):
- Endometrial cancer
- Colon cancer
- Gall bladder cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Esophagal cancer
- Uterine cancer
- Breast cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Asthma
- Snoring
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Osteo Arthritis
- Cataracts
- Erectile dysfunction
- Impotence
- Infertility
- Loss of libido
- Irregular menstrual cycles
- Gestational diabetes
- Type Two Diabetes, potentially resulting in:
- Slow healing of cuts & wounds
- Abnormally frequent urination
- Increased thirst
- Nerve damage
- Blurred vision
- Heart Disease
- Kidney Disease
- Stroke
- Blindness
- Erectile dysfunction
- Amputations
- Pregnancy and birth complications
- Increased need for Ceasarean sections
- Birth defects for the infant such as:
- Spina Bifida
- Low blood sugar
- Brain damage
- Seizures
- Neural tube defects
- Omphalocele
- Heart defects
- Depression
- Gall bladder disease, potentially leading on to:
- Gall stones
- Abdominal pain
- Back pain
- Incontinence
- Increased surgical risks
- Tinnitus
- Fatty liver disease, potentially leading on to:
- Cirrhosis of the liver
- Severe liver damage / failure
- Insulin resistance syndrome
- Reduced immune function
- Swollen joints / fluid retention
- Muscular aches and pains, particularly:
- Neck
- Shoulders
- Chest
- Biomechanical injuries & faults, including:
- Sunken arches / flat foot
- Heel spurs
- Plantar fasciitis
- Shin soreness
- Creaking knees
- Achilles tendonitis
- Calcific tendonopathy
- Sprained ankles
- Bone chips
- Gout
- Social and career ostracism & discrimination which may result in loneliness, poverty, sexual frustration.
As this list is far from comprehensive, you should now realise that there are many significant health risks associated with obesity. The effects of obesity are so far reaching that over weight & obese individuals would do well to consider not only their own welfare but also that of those they love and deal seriously with it before the consequences become irreversible.
Is Dieting the Answer for Weight Loss and Obesity?
For those seeking permanent weight loss, dieting alone is rarely the answer.
As distinct from “dieting” per se, permanent weight loss or control of obesity requires a lifetime commitment to the pursuit of health. It means a full scale commitment to habit and lifestyle change in many areas, including dietary, physical activity, spiritual and emotional wellbeing, and more.
It is for this reason that “dieting” has been proven in study after study after study after study to almost always fail other than in the short term for almost everyone. Different ‘experts’ quote different variables, but all giving the same general story – that around 90% of people who lose weight by following a set diet regain all the weight and more again within about two years.
Diet is certainly essential for weight loss. “Dieting” isn’t. There are few diets ever promoted that are sustainable long term. Despite the accusations of ney-sayers who accuse people who can’t stick to a “diet” for a long period of time as being weak-willed, most popular diets deprive a person of nutrition, and the body will cry out for nutrients before malnutrition and degenerative diseases begin to kick in. (OK – people who cannot even stick to a diet for a short period may very well be weak-willed, and probably need psychological or other support mechanisms to begin the process.)
Sensible and healthy eating involves moderating calories/kilojoules – but not chopping out essential nutients such as certain vitamins, minerals, amino acids or fatty acids.
Rather than the rigidness of a “diet”, your long term health and weight control requires health-centric guidelines and boundaries in relation to food and drink intake.
There is no end to the number of “weight loss diets“ promoted, coming into and out of fashion. The litmus test for a sound diet is whether it is promoted as a component of an overall habit reforming lifestyle plan (incorporating physical activity, dietary considerations, spiritual and emotional wholeness) AND whether you believe all the habit reforms including dietary are sustainable long term – even years after you have lost your excess weight.
Always remember that the key to success in weight loss is to NOT concentrate or emphasise or even measure your success in terms of lost weight. Your real objective is to maximise your health in every sense of the term. Eventually, loss of body fat (as distinct from mere “weight loss” which is all too often emphasised and commercialised, yet is often just fluid loss and muscle wastage with little or no loss of body fat) will follow and will be sustainable long term.
