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Cutting down on calories alone may not help you trim your bulging waistline as researchers have found that lack of leisure-time physical activity is linked to increased obesity, particularly in young women. Researchers analysing data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the US found that in the past 20 years there has been a sharp decrease in physical exercise and an increase in average body mass index (BMI), while caloric intake has remained steady. (Read: World Obesity Day: 22 ways fat can kill you)
'At the population level, we found a significant association between the level of leisure-time physical activity, but not daily caloric intake, and the increases in both BMI and waist circumference,' said Uri Ladabaum, associate professor at Stanford University School of Medicine in the US. The number of US adult women who reported no physical activity jumped from 19.1 percent in 1994 to 51.7 percent in 2010. For men, the number increased from 11.4 percent in 1994 to 43.5 percent in 2010. During the period, average BMI has increased across the board, with the most dramatic rise found among young women ages between 18 and 39 years. (Read: No country for fit people every other urban Indian is obese!)
The study looked at the escalation of obesity in terms of both exercise and caloric intake. The study appeared in American Journal of Medicine.
What is obesity?
When people eat more calories than they burn, their bodies store the extra calories as fat. Obesity is an accumulation of this excess body fat to an extent that may impair health. This occurs over a period of time. The balance between calories-in and calories-out varies from one person to another. Factors that might tip the balance include your genetic makeup, overeating and eating high-fat food with very little or no physical activity. (Read: Obesity killing millions around the world every year!)
Measuring Obesity
A crude measure of excess fat is the body mass index [BMI], which is a person's weight [in kilograms], divided by the square of his/her height [in metres]. WHO defines overweight as a BMI of 25 or more, and obesity as a BMI of 30 or more. There is also evidence that the risk of chronic disease increases progressively as average BMI raises above 21.
Threats of obesity
Obesity comes with its bag and baggage of threats. Some of them are listed below:
Years of life lost People who are obese do not live as long as those who are not obese. The earlier a person becomes obese, the more years of his/her life are lost.
Dysmetabolic Syndrome X This syndrome involves abdominal obesity, abnormal blood-fat levels, changes in insulin sensitivity and inflammation of the arteries. It is associated with a markedly increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease a precursor to the onset of diabetes in adults.
Heart disease Severely obese persons are approximately six times more likely to develop heart disease as those who weigh in the normal range for their body type.
High blood pressure Essential hypertension, the progressive elevation of blood pressure, is more common in obese persons leading to development of heart disease, and damage to the blood vessels, causing susceptibility to strokes, kidney damage, and hardening of the arteries. (Read: Want to lower your blood pressure? Be happy!)
Read more about causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of hypertension.
High blood cholesterol Cholesterol levels are commonly elevated in the severely obese another factor predisposing to development of heart and blood vessel disease.
Diabetes Mellitus Overweight persons are 40 times more likely to develop Type-2 diabetes! Elevation of the blood sugar, which is the essential feature of diabetes, leads to damage of tissues throughout the body. Diabetes is the leading cause of adult-onset blindness, kidney failure and also of over one-half of all amputations.
Sleep Apnoea Syndrome The stoppage of breathing during sleep is commonly caused in the obese, by compression of the neck, closing the air passage to the lungs. (Read: Sleep apnoea: Don't laugh away snoring problems!)
Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome It is characterised by episodes of drowsiness, or narcosis and is caused by abnormalities of breathing and accumulation of toxic levels of carbondioxide in the blood. Read more about World Obesity Day: The health hazards of being obese!
With inputs from IANS
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