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Facts About Obesity
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There is a world epidemic of obesity, estimated
to encompass 1.7 billion people. 20% of this
population is known to be morbidly obese.
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According to the Worldwatch Institute, the
number of overweight people is approximately
equal to the number of underweight people.
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The Indian national health survey of 1998-99
found six percent of women in urban India, aged
between 15 to 49 years old, to be obese and 18
percent overweight.
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Currently above 250 genes, markers and
chromosomal regions are linked with obesity
phenotypes.
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The caloric value of the food offered by
restaurants and fast food outlets for one meal
often exceeds a person’s caloric needs for the
entire day.
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Even modest degrees of overweight have a
significant adverse effect on the outcome of
pregnancy.
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The incidence of large-for-gestational-age
infants in obese mothers is higher than in lean
mothers.
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Non smoking overweight men and women lose 3.1
and 3.3 years of life respectively compared to
normal weight non smokers.
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Weight fluctuations have worse impact on the
risk of death than weight stability.
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The risk of mortality associated with obesity is
greater for younger people as compared to older
people.
Diseases Related to Morbid Obesity
Cardiovascular
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Obesity alone accounts for 78% and 65% of
essential hypertension in men and women
respectively.
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The
occurrence of myocardial infarction,
hypertension and congestive heart failure are
all significantly higher among obese people than
among people with normal weight.
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After adjustment for age and smoking, the risk
of a fatal or non-fatal myocardial infarction
among women with a BMI >29 is 3 times that of
lean women.
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There is a 2-fold increase in the risk of
coronary heart disease in women with a BMI of
25-28.9 and 3.6 for a BMI of 29 or more.
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The
risk of coronary heart diseases in males
increases by 38% and 86% with a 10% and 20%
increase in weight respectively.
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With every 1 kg of weight loss, there is a
corresponding reduction by about 1% in total
cholesterol and LDL and a rise by 1% in HDL and
a 3% decrease in triglycerides.
Metabolic Syndrome
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Central adiposity is also more closely
associated with the development of metabolic
syndrome than the absolute degree of fatness.
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Researchers have observed that increased
visceral adipocyte in Asian Indians is
associated with increased generalized obesity,
which is not perceptible from their non-obese
BMI. This often results in prevalence of
diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.
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Diabetes
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A population of 19 million in India is already
affected by diabetes and the figure is expected
to go up to a whopping 57 million by the 2005, a
World Health Organisation (WHO) study indicated.
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The prevalence of diabetes increases
proportionately with the severity of obesity,
duration of obesity, and age.
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The risk of DM2 in patients with a BMI 25.0
kg/m2 is three times higher than in the general
population, and the risk increases
proportionally with increasing BMI.
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Studies have reported that about 75% of type 2
diabetics are overweight.
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The risk for Diabetes rises linearly above a BMI
of 22 in case of females with a 5-fold increased
risk at a BMI of 25, a 28-fold risk at a BMI of
30, and a 93-fold higher risk above a BMI of 35.
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Even with a gain of 8-10.9 kgs, the risk of
diabetes increases 2.7-fold in comparison to
those who maintain stable weight.
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Diabetes related mortality can be reduced by
30-40% by losing nine kilograms of weight.
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Glycosylated Hemoglobin can be reduced by 7% and
fasting blood glucose by 15% with a 5% weight
loss.
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Normalization in metabolic control and
improvements in life expectancy can be seen with
a weight loss of 10-20% in weight in Type 2
diabetics.
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Central distribution of fat as reflected by
waist circumference above 100 cm independently
increases the risk of diabetes by 3.5 fold even
after controlling for BMI in both the genders.
Pulmonary
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Morbid obesity (MO) can be associated with
changes in respiratory function. Among others,
they are the obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS)
and the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (SAS),
which may occur either independently or in
combination.
Digestive Diseases
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In the clinically severe obese with BMI
exceeding 40, only 2% have normal livers, 56%
show fatty infiltration alone, whereas 42% have
fatty infiltration associated with fibrosis or
cirrhosis.
Cancer
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Colorectal cancer was the principal site of
excess cancer mortality in obese males, whereas
in females cancer of the gallbladder and biliary
passages was more prominent.
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In women aged 60-69 years with a BMI of 25-29
kg/m2 the risk of endometrial cancer
is more than double and increases 5.4-fold in
those with BMI of more than 30 kg/m2.
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An intentional weight loss of even 0.5-9.0 kg
was associated with a decrease of 40-50% in
mortality from obesity related cancers
Digestive Diseases
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In the clinically severe obese with BMI
exceeding 40, only 2% have normal livers, 56%
show fatty infiltration alone, whereas 42% have
fatty infiltration associated with fibrosis or
cirrhosis.
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Childhood Obesity
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A child who is obese after 6 years of age, has a
50% probability of obesity during adult years;
and the risks are significantly higher if either
parent is obese.
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Adult obesity stemming from childhood obesity is
known to be even more severe.
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It has been estimated that children consume 20 -
25% of their daily energy while television
viewing and this ‘eating while watching
television is a potential mechanism linking
television viewing to obesity.
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A study conducted by the Nutrition Foundation of
India on over 4000 children aged 4-18 years in a
public school in Delhi, showed that the
incidence of overweight reached its peak in boys
by 12-14 years and in girls by 9-11 years
whereas the incidence of obesity reached its
peak between 6-8 years in both boys and girls.
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