Do You Know The Complications Of Obesity?

Do You Know The Complications Of Obesity?

As we know, obesity is a very common condition in the United States today. Since you can see obese people everywhere you look, many people have become complacent and almost accept that it’s ‘just the way things are’. The problem with this thinking is that it minimizes the incredible health risks that are associated with obesity. This is very important to understand. Obesity IS a serious disease! As I will soon explain, it often leads to quite serious and life-threatening conditions.

Perhaps the biggest tragedy about obesity today is the fact that it now tends to afflict significantly more children than it did couple of decades ago. The effects on children can be quite devastating. Imagine a pre-teen or teenager facing problems of elevated cholesterol or gastric reflux disease and elevated blood pressure. Obese children are nine times more likely than normal weight children to experience these conditions. What a bleak scenario that must be for the child. Yet, what is even more alarming is the fact that obesity commonly results in glucose intolerance which eventually leads to type II diabetes. This is one of the worst diseases that a child can have. There are also biomechanical issues such as sleep apnea, as well as bone and joint disorders. These can be quite depressing for growing teenagers since it will prevent them from being able to engage in activities which their non-obese peers are able to do. This leads to what may actually be the more profound effect of obesity on children -- a severe decline in their self-esteem. This can lead to severe psychological problems that may haunt them for life. When surveys were conducted in various universities across the United States, researchers were surprised to see that a large number of the teenagers interviewed would much rather have several years taken from their lives or have a limb amputated rather than be overweight. Before that particular study, most people did not think that being overweight or obese had such a detrimental effect on the psyche of a child. So today, it is recognized as a potential trigger for a host of so many other social and psychological problems. Thankfully, many enlightened physicians are now addressing the psychosocial aspects of obesity as a significant concern.

The effects on adults, while involving some psychological issues also, are not quite as debilitating as the ones experienced by children. This is due mostly to the maturity of adults since children are more liable to experience extreme emotions compared to adults who are seasoned by years of experience. Nevertheless, there are still mental issues that can result from an obesity condition. Depression is one, as well as a host of other psychological problems emanating from a diminished sense of self-esteem. The quality-of-life issue is also a big one particularly for aging adults because they are hit with a double whammy combination of aging and the debilitating effects of obesity on their lives. Beyond this, the physical aspects of complications resulting from obesity for adults are more serious because of the fact that due to the effects of aging, their bodies are in a state that is less than optimal. So complications such as lipid abnormalities, high blood pressure, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, osteoarthritis, heart disease, and gallbladder disease can severely impact the quality of life and survivability of an adult suffering from obesity. Additional complications are cancers of the uterus, cervix, ovaries, breast, colon and prostate among others. Research has clearly shown that those who are obese have a much greater chance of coming down with these cancers. The same thing goes for the risk of type II diabetes, stroke, heart disease and osteoarthritis. Sleep apnea is also a problem for adults, which can progress to a more severe condition which can even lead to death.

So the complications of obesity are quite alarming as you can see. They have dire effects on a person’s way of life and can impact severely the quality of life and lifespan. While obesity and its complications are extremely unpleasant, the good news is that obesity is quite curable today, requiring no surgery or complicated, expensive procedures. It most certainly doesn’t require the use of drugs either. What it requires is a strong resolve to change some fundamental things in life. By this, I am referring to what and how a person eats. The cure for obesity revolves primarily around food choices, along with getting just a bit of moderate exercise. What makes it appear difficult for many people is the fact that the fundamental changes involve shifting toward a purely plant food-based diet. If you think this sounds difficult, I encourage you to try it just for a week. If you are like nearly everyone else, you will feel so much better. You will want to go for another week. In that short span of time, positive changes will begin to happen. Once those changes start happening, it will be instrumental in facilitating the process of making the change permanent because you now have firsthand experience of how great you feel. The positive benefits will then start to unfold.