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About Obesity

Obesity is defined as a chronic progressive, relapsing, and treatable multifactorial, Neurobehavioral disease, wherein an increase in body fat promotes adipose tissue dysfunction and abnormal fat mass physical forces, resulting in adverse metabolic, biomechanical, and psychosocial health consequences.

Who it affects

  • 42% of US adults have obesity and 19.3 % of children

  • Non Hispanic Black adults (49.9%)

  • Hispanic adults (45.6%)

  • Non-Hispanic White adults (41.4%)

  • Metabolic syndrome in US adults >30%

Obesity as a disease

  1. It can be due to inherited and environmental factors or a combination of both. 

  2. It may result in cellular and organ anatomic abnormalities. 

  3. May result in “sick fat” causing endocrine and immune dysfunction resulting in metabolic disease

  4. Can cause stress damage to other body tissues due to physical forces of increased weight 

  5. Worsens with unhealthful behavior just like other disease processes

Why treating it is a good thing!

  1. Balanced nutrition and physical activity improves anatomic, physiologic, inflammatory and metabolic processes

  2. Medically managed weight reduction can improve metabolic disorder

    1. Diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, decreasing chance of blood clots

  3. Physician managed weight loss program is more likely to result in long term weight loss maintenance 

  4. Can reduce mortality that is increased with obesity

  5. May help improve sleep apena and osteoarthritis

  6. May reduce likelihood of certain cancers, could improve response to certain cancer treatments and may prevent recurrence of cancer

  7. May help improve polycystic ovarian syndrome, may help increase testosterone in men with hypogonadism

  8. Improve quality of life, improve body image, can improve symptoms of some psychiatric disorders

  9. Weight loss in child-bearing women and men may help reduce obesity and metabolic diseases in future generations

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