All You Need to Know About Obesity and Overweight - Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Signs and Symptoms

An unhealthy distribution of body fat and a high Body Mass Index are the signs of obesity and being overweight. Additionally, the following signs may be present in obese individuals:

● Stretch marks

● Varicose veins and swelling in lower limbs

● Swelling and darkening of skin in certain parts of the body

● A waist circumference of over 88 cm in women and 102 cm in men

The most prominent symptom of obesity is a significant increase in body weight. This increase may cause other symptoms, such as:

● Backache or joint pains

● Excessive sweating

● Difficulty in sleeping due to sleep apnoea

● Shortness of breath

● Fatigue

● Infections in skin folds

Causes and Risk Factors

Obesity is caused when the number of calories consumed by an individual is more than the number of calories burned through exercise and normal activity. This leads to an energy imbalance in the body, causing the body to store the excess calories as fat.

Body weight can be influenced by metabolic, hormonal, genetic, behavioural, and socio-economic factors. The risk factors of obesity include:

● Lifestyle choices such as unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles.

● Genetics - Your genes play an important role in how efficiently your body can convert food into energy and burn calories during exercise.

● Medications and diseases - Certain conditions like PCOS - polycystic ovarian syndrome, Cushing syndrome, etc. can cause weight gain. Some antidepressants, diabetes medicines, steroids, beta-blockers, and hormonal birth control pills can also cause weight gain.

● Socio-economic issues - Avoiding obesity is challenging if you do not have access to safe places to exercise or are unable to purchase healthy foods.

● Age - Ageing decreases your body’s muscle mass, leading to a decrease in metabolism. This makes it hard to avoid weight gain. Ageing also causes hormonal changes in the body and a decrease in physical activity, which increases the risk of obesity.

● Stress causes you to binge eat, leading to obesity.

● Less sleep - Not sleeping enough leads to hormonal changes in the body, making you crave high-calorie foods, leading to weight gain.

● Pregnancy - Weight gain is normal during pregnancy. However, many women find it hard to lose excess weight after childbirth.

● Gender - Women are more prone to weight gain during childbirth and menopause or if they have PCOS.

● Habits - Alcohol consumption, smoking, and drug abuse can also lead to obesity.

Complications

Obesity can lead to serious health complications, such as:

● High cholesterol levels and elevated blood pressure in obese individuals cause cardiovascular diseases and pose a high risk of strokes.

● Diabetes type 2 - obesity causes insulin resistance and thus leads to diabetes.

● Higher risk of developing cancer of the liver, gallbladder, kidney, ovaries, endometrium, uterus, cervix, breasts, colon, and prostate.

● Osteoarthritis - obesity increases the stress on joints and inflammation in the body, causing this complication.

● Sleep Apnoea - A condition in obese individuals where the breathing abruptly stops and restarts repeatedly during sleep.

Diagnosis and Treatment

Obesity is diagnosed by understanding an individual’s clinical history and symptoms, measuring BMI and waist circumference, followed by blood analysis and imaging tests to check for glucose levels, cholesterol, and kidney and liver function.

Obesity is usually treated with a combination of diet changes and an increase in physical activity. While medicines and surgical options are also available, you should always consult a doctor first before proceeding with any of them.