A common problem seen in people nowadays is either they are overweight or underweight. Both of these stops you from claiming yourself to be healthy, which is quite true. But that’s not the real problem, the problem is both of these conditions is, they give rise to some serious health issues. For now, we will talk about the most life-threatening yet neglected one amongst these two that is “overweight” or “obesity”. First, we need to understand what obesity actually is?
What is obesity ?
Obesity is basically a condition where the person has excessive body fat that might lead to some serious health related issues or diseases. It even increases the risk of life-threatening conditions like heart-attack and stroke. The condition is often a result of more calorie intake than the calorie burnt in daily physical activities or workouts. Now, how can you diagnose that you are having obesity? If your body weight is above the ideal limit, it confirms that you are obese. Now, what does ideal limit mean? It refers to an optimal weight with more life expectancy for a given height.
For a better understanding, I will give you a simple tip. Check your BMI (Body Mass Index), if your BMI is around a range from 18.5 to 24.9, it means you have a healthy weight. But if your BMI is 25 or above, it means you have excessive body fat and you fall in the overweight category. Then you will have to worry about it.
Stages of obesity :
Obesity has three stages based on the BMI and also the risk factors involved.
- Grade 1 obesity: (Low-Risk)
If your BMI is around 30 to 34.9, you will fall under Grade 1 obesity. It is generally easy to come out of it, just by changing your food habits, sleeping schedules and adding a little bit of physical workouts.
- Grade 2 obesity: (Moderate-Risk)
If your BMI is around 35 to 39.9, you will fall under Grade 2 obesity. When it comes to grade 2, you need to worry about a little. You need to take necessary steps to prevent yourself from diseases like blood pressure and cardio-vascular diseases. You can easily get rid of these problems by similar methods I mentioned in Grade 1 above and you might need an expert who can help you out to get back to healthy weight category more effectively.
- Grade 3 obesity: (High-Risk)
If your BMI is greater than or equal to 40, you will fall under Grade 3 obesity and you have to be serious about your food habits and daily lifestyle for the sake of your health. Cause when you are at Grade 3 obesity you have the highest chance of getting heart-attack and stroke. It also gives rise to various problems like hypertension and even disease like type II diabetes. And for a Grade 3 obese the life expectancy is shortened to 14 years. It will be better, if you consult a doctor who would diagnose it perfectly and treat you the best way possible.
Lastly, I want to say that obesity is fatal if taken lightly. But there is good thing about it is, the initial stages (Grade 1 and 2) can be treated easily with just a few simple tips like eating balanced diet, adding physical workouts in your daily routine, avoiding junk foods etc.
How to maintain healthy weight and prevent obesity?
- Avoid eating unhealthy foods that contains excessive oil and sugar.
- Workout for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week.
- Eat a balanced diet with optimal nutritional values.
- Improve your sleeping schedule, must be 8 hours and above.
- Can do intermediate fasting if needed.
Note: Take experts advice when performing fasting.
For now, this is enough. We might talk about this common yet serious problem in a while to provide awareness amongst people and help them to live a healthy and happier life.
