Obesity is a complex condition that enhances the risk of other diseases’ development and complications. Obesity is associated with excess body fat caused by various reasons, such as genetics, diseases, or behavior (“Adult Obsession,” 2021). This problem is becoming more common in the world, bringing difficulties to many people. Despite the obesity complexity and severe consequences, it can usually be controlled, and even a slight loss of excess weight can improve health.
The connection between obesity and other diseases is widely known. Reasons why excess weight affects health include:
- Hormones produced by fat – estrogen, adipokines, adiponectin – change processes in the body (“Does obesity,” 2020).
- Structural changes – pressure on systems can cause varicose veins, apnea, decreased lung volume, and other problems.
- Chronic inflammation in the body that obesity causes leads to pain, in particular the development of arthritis.
- Increasing insulin levels leads to insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, and increases cancer risk.
Due to these reasons, obesity affects chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, sleep apnea, and other diseases (“Adult obesity,” 2021; “Obesity and chronic,” n.d.). Given the dangers of these conditions, it is vital to maintain a healthy weight.
Medical professionals tracking the effects of obesity often observe new problems that it causes. In particular, among the latter observations, it was revealed that obesity worsens the condition of patients with COVID-19 and the consequences of the disease (Yang et al., 2021). Another worrying trend in recent years is the childhood obesity epidemic, making them more vulnerable to chronic diseases (Lee & Yoon, 2018). The United States has the leading position in the number of people with obesity – in 2017, their percentage was about 38% (Kollmeyer, 2017). The leading causes of the problem are poor-quality foods, high popularity of fast food, sedentary lifestyle, and similar issues. The prevalence of obesity is alarming, again emphasizing the need to care about people’s health attentively.
References
Adult obesity causes & consequences. (2021). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Does obesity cause other diseases? (2020). Advanced Bariatric & Surgical Specialists.
Kollmeyer, B. (2017). The U.S. is the most obese nation in the world, just ahead of Mexico. Market Watch.
Lee, E. Y., & Yoon, K. H. (2018). Epidemic obesity in children and adolescents: Risk factors and prevention. Frontiers of Medicine, 12(6), 658-666.
Obesity and chronic diseases. (n.d.). University of Mississippi Medical Center.
Yang, J., Hu, J., & Zhu, C. (2021). Obesity aggravates COVID‐19: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Journal of Medical Virology, 93(1), 257-261.