Revealed -- why being obese makes a person slower!

Workers who are obese have significantly shorter endurance times when performing workplace tasks compared to their non-obese counterparts. Obesity is associated with physiological changes at the muscular level, including a decrease in blood flow, thereby limiting the supply of oxygen and energy sources. When performing sustained contractions, these physiological changes may lead to a faster onset of muscle fatigue, the study said.

'Our findings indicated that on an average, approximately 40 percent shorter endurance times were found in the obese group, with the largest differences in the hand grip and simulated assembly tasks,' said Lora Cavuoto, an assistant professor at University of Buffalo in the US.

For the study, researchers examined the endurance of 32 individuals in four categories (non-obese young, obese young, non-obese older, and obese older) who completed three distinct tasks that involved a range of upper extremity demands - hand grip, intermittent shoulder elevation, and a simulated assembly operation.

Each task involved periods of work and rest, and included pacing demands similar to those experienced by workers in manufacturing settings.

'Workers who are obese may need longer rest breaks to return to their initial state of muscle function,' Cavuoto added.

'Based on the increased fatigue found among workers who are obese, workplace designers may need to consider adding fixtures and supports to minimise the amount of time that body mass segments need to be supported,' Cavuoto said.

The study appeared in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene.

What is obesity?

Obesity refers to increased body fat but it is not same as being overweight. A person who is overweight need not be obese but a person who is obese is overweight. Overweight is the term used for a person who weighs more. The weight can be muscle weight, bone weight or fat weight. But a person is said to be obese when he/she consumes more number of calories than the number of calories used by the body. If your Body Mass Index or BMI (calculated by dividing height by weight) is more than 30, then you are obese. Obesity is becoming a global epidemic not only in developed nations but also in developing nations like India. Obesity is linked to a host of lifestyle disorders like diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension and stroke. Easy availability of sugars and fats, messing with our body clocks and an increased sedentary lifestyle are responsible for obesity. Being overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global deaths with at least 2.8 million adults dying each year due to them. In this section, you'll find articles like the need to control obesity, hazards of being obese, childhood obesity etc. You can also look for ways to fight obesity, for ex: exercises for obese people, bariatric surgery, possibility of eating obesity without healthy diet and exercise, healthy food option to lose weight quickly.

What are reasons for obesity?

The prime reason is eating unhealthy foods which add more calories and provide less or no nutrition at all to our bodies. A regular intake of such foods plays havoc with our system depositing excess fat which adds weight and pushes us towards being obese.

Another factor is the lack of physical activity. Due to changes in lifestyle, people are plonked in front of their TVs or laptops for hours on end without getting any exercise which leads to weight gain and other health problems. Over time, this combined with unhealthy eating leads to obesity. Read more about mega guide to curb obesity.

Here is a healthy Indian meal plan for the obese:

Breakfast:

2 onion uttapam, 1 cup low-fat curd, 1 fruit OR 1.5 cup vegetable dalia, 1 glass lemon water.

Lunch:

1 cup carrot and onion salad, 2 rotis, 1.5 cup aloo nutri curry, half cup curd OR salad, 1.5 cup steamed rice, 1.5 cup sambar, half cup buttermilk.

Dinner:

1 cup clear tomato soup, 2 rotis, 1 cup carrot-peas, hald cup yellow dal OR 1 cup tomato-cucumber salad, 2 rotis, 1 cup paneer curry. Read more about why we need to control obesity

With inputs from IANS

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