The important overweight and obesity facts you should know
There is a difference from being overweight to being obese. When a person is overweight this means that they have excess body weight which is made up of fat, muscle, bone and water. When a person is obese they have an excess of accumulated body fat. Although many people that are overweight do have excess fat, it is possible for a person with very little fat to be overweight; this is mainly the case in athletes such as body builders who have excess muscle which weights three times as much as fat. When a person has so much muscle then their weight will be higher than the normal weight for their age and height. When a person is overweight due to excess fat this is when it can lead to obesity.
It is a sad fact that one in three adults between the ages of 20 to 74 is overweight. Obesity is becoming more and more of a problem in recent times and it is the biggest risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, gallbladder disease, some types of cancer, breathing issues and also arthritis.
A woman is considered obese if she has more than 25% body fat and a man if he has over 30% body fat. It isn't always easy to measure body fat if someone is very muscular as when body mass indexed (BMI) is measured it doesn't take muscle weight into account. There is another method to calculate body fat that is more accurate and that is the underwater method although this does need special equipment and is therefore limited to laboratories.
There are a couple of other methods that you can use to measure body fat. First there is the skin fold thickness measurement that tests the thickness of the skin around different areas of the body. The accuracy of this type of measurement may depend on the skill of the person taking the measurements. The second test is the BIA or bioelectric impedance analysis. This test involves sending a small electrical current through the body which will then estimate the total body water level. The higher the water level indicates the amount of muscle matter. This test is not all that accurate on people that are extremely obese.
There are around 32 million adult women and 26 million adult men that are overweight in America and around 4.7 million children that are overweight.
There seems to be a lot more junk food available to us these days than there was in the past which is a contributing factor to the increased numbers of obesity. The foods consumed combined with the lack of exercise are the primary reason for people being overweight.
There are up to 40% of women that are trying to lose weight and around 24% of men. 3,500 calories is required to be consumed to gain a pound of weight. You also need to burn off 3,500 calories to lose a pound of weight. There are over 300,000 deaths every year that can be contributed to poor diet and inactivity.
The costs that are associated with obesity are enormous and it is estimated that $11.3 billion dollars is spent on diagnosis, treatment and weight management. Treatments include those for diseases that have occurred due to being overweight and may include treatment for diabetic coma, diabetic kentoacidosis, diabetic kidney disease or diabetic eye disease.
It is estimated that $22.2 billion dollars is spent on medical treatment for heart disease patients. High blood pressure results in a cost of $1.5 billion and another $1.9 billion on breast and colon cancer. Then there are weight reduction products and services, diets, products and programs all coming in at a cost of $33 billion dollars a year.
These are just some of the incredible facts on overweight and obesity.
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Article Source: Messaggiamo.Com
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