By Madhavi Dandu
Lifestyles have undergone dynamic changes over the decades and the people of today’s society are leading a more sedentary life that is bracketed in coziness and escorted by machine comforts. However, there have also emerged arrays of lifestyle disorders that are unwarranted and have potentially harmful implications for our health. The sturdy man of the yester centuries has transformed into a weak and vulnerable person! Most of the developing and developed societies around the world are suffering from conditions like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, stress and many more diseases. Of all the diseases stated, obesity has emerged almost as a pandemic around the world. The excess body weight that finds discrepancy with the BMI indices has been described as the condition of obesity and is significantly different from healthy body dimensions.
Why so much of concern?
The condition of obesity is not a disease in itself but, a frontrunner for an array of real diseases which carry life threatening implications. Obesity is not incurable or hard to control and rather requires only lifestyle changes through incorporation of positives.
While it is easy to assume that lifestyle changes will rid us of the problem. One must keep in mind that doing so has become increasingly difficult because of unhealthy habits we have developed. We have developed an obsession to eat junk and easy foods, and chose to laze around in our cozy homes making it even more difficult for our bodies. It is for this reason that obesity has surfaced up as a pandemic that stands to threaten the health of global societies. Fitness experts are therefore, not shying away from labeling it as a disease.
Obesity implications –
Obesity is characterized by the deposition of excess fats in our body thus, increasing our weight. When we eat more than our body requires, excess energies are produced. This extra energy is stored in the form of adipose fat tissues. The process of fat deposition is very slow but consistent.
One of the major health hazards that are prospectively associated with obesity is diabetes. High fat deposition and obesity reduces the capacity of the body to respond to elevated blood sugar levels through proper insulin production. The fat tissue has its own hormone production profile and it interferes with the healthy mechanism of the body!
This is how the body develops insulin resistance which results in high blood glucose levels. This further deteriorates the body processes and organs like the eyes and kidneys.
Other major ailments that are caused by obesity are –
Coronary heart diseases: The excess fat that travels in the blood deposits as arterial plaque and makes the arteries rigid and also narrower. This is one of the major causes of cardiac arrest.
Joints pain: Pain is experienced in the knee joints due to increased weight. In severe cases, proper joint therapies are considered. Some cases may also require joint replacement.
Catalyzes stress: Obese persons are generally found to be lacking initiative and vigor towards life and have greater tendency to slip into stress and depression. A toned up body is always full of self confidence and potential!
How to take care?
A few lifestyle tips can change all this easily and constitute the common social talk. These are –
1. Eat healthy! – Avoid junk food and eat home cooked healthy meals.
2. Lives an active life – Make the time to do light exercises.
3. Remain vigilant – Keep a track of your body dynamics and weight.
4. Never skip meals – Have a well regulated diet as fasting irresponsibly increases the chance of putting on weight.
So never let your life passions take a negative hold on you. Reduce the chances of health threats that could otherwise be waiting for you as you move forward with irresponsible lifestyles.
Take care!
– Madhavi Dandu is a senior editor at UrbanWired with deep love and passion for all things health, wellness, fitness and fashion. Given how uninformed people were about personal health, fitness, she saw the need to educate average joe and jane about healthy living through her writing.