ARE YOU OBESE OR OVERWEIGHTED?
Today, the concepts of obesity and fatness are commonly confused with each other. Although both obesity and fatness occur when the body consumes more calories than it can expend in a day, there is a numerical difference between these two concepts. Thus, regarding the problems of obesity caused by excess weight in our body, we need to know at what limit our health is in danger.
In the last 30 years, obesity has been at the top of the list of health problems that concern the whole world. In order to evaluate the status of obese individuals, ‘body mass index’ is calculated. It is being calculated by dividing the body weight as kilograms by the height of the person in centimeters. This number gives the level of obesity. In another evaluation system, when waist circumference is measured, it should not exceed 102 cm for men and 88 cm for women.
When the body mass index of the person is calculated, if the number is between 25-29.9 it is considered as “overweight “, if it is over 30 “obese”, and “severely obese” if it is between 35-39.9. Overweight and obesity can be solved by applying healthy diet and regular and appropriate exercises. However, since severe and morbid level of obesity brings other diseases with their selves, it can be solved with treatment plans created by physicians from different branches.
Do the Causes of Obesity Differ in Men and Women?
Looking at the underlying causes of obesity, there are some common causes for both men and women, as well as other causes of obesity specific to women. When we look at the common causes, we see:
-Inactive lifestyle
-Smoking and alcohol usage
-Depression medications
-Not getting breast milk
-Excessive consumption of the wrong foods at the wrong times of the day
-Psychological reasons
-Genetic factors
In women, unlike men, another cause of obesity occurs before giving birth, not intervening in the birth weight in time, not taking the help of a physician and dietitian along with not being able to move more actively.
Obesity Calls for Other Diseases
Obesity is not a health problem on its own. In addition to negatively affecting human health, disrupting the comfort of life, it lives in the human body with other diseases that it almost joins hands with. If we look at what these diseases are:
“Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood fats and cholesterol, fatty liver, cardiovascular diseases, sleep apnea, ovarian cysts in women and related menstrual irregularities, joint disorders, excessive hair growth, depression, some types of cancer, hormonal disorders in men.”
Obese Women are More Likely to get Breast and Uterine Cancer
The fact that obesity increases the risk of cancer can be better understood when it is explained by hormonal reasons. Because the adipose tissue in the person produces a high amount of estrogen hormone. High levels of this hormone also increase the risk of breast and uterine cancers in women. If a woman is overweight and obese, she has a 2-4 times higher risk of developing uterine cancer than normal women, regardless of whether she has gone through menopause or not. Although the exact cause has not been revealed, diabetes mellitus; The risk is thought to increase with the addition of reasons such as less movement and not doing sports. Obese women also have higher estrogen levels. Since the ovaries will stop producing hormones after menopause, the fat cells in the body become the most important source of estrogen. This leads to rapid growth of breast tumors that respond to estrogen hormone. In men, the enlargement around the waist that develops with obesity and the increase in the fat tissue here increases the risk of colon cancer.
Obesity Can be the Cause of Other Cancer Variations
Apart from all these, obesity also increases the risk of cancer of the esophagus and gallbladder. Overweight and obese people are twice as likely to develop esophageal cancer than those with healthy weight. The risk of gallbladder cancer increases with a high body mass index. The reason for the increased risk is the increased incidence of gallstones in obese people. Gallstones are an important risk factor for gallbladder cancer. Although the mechanisms behind it are not fully known yet, it is known that the incidence of thyroid cancer and kidney cancer is high in obese people.