Obesity and Lifestyle Choices - Essay Example

"Obesity and Lifestyle Choices" is a useful example of a paper on metabolic problems.
Movement is the route to develop curiosity in every human being which enables them to explore, learn and interact with the surrounding. In modern civilized society, in many households, the items which are used include automatic dishwashers, riding lawnmowers, T.V. remote controls, automatic garage door openers, power screwdrivers, bread machines, electric pencil sharpeners, etc. This easy and comfortable life is going against our health without many realizations. Unfortunately, this trend in workplaces and living areas is taking human lives into pitfalls by making the person lethargic and passive. Overuse and overview of these items are restricting the diverse physical movements. The eating habits like fat diet and the failure to exercise the body lead to unwanted overweight. This global epidemic is started affecting since childhood and becoming significant during reproductive years (ASRM, 2008). U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated 400,000 obesity-related deaths annually in the United States in 2004. The National Institute of Health has associated obesity with body mass index. The person is said to be overweight when BMI ranges from 25 to 29.9 kg/m2. The individual is called obese when BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2. When BMI is ≥ 40 kg/m2, it is termed as morbid obesity (ASRM, 2008).

This chronic disorder gives rise to various comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain cancers, and sleep apnea/sleep-disordered breathing (Poirier et al., 2006).  Obese people experience higher spells of depression and psychological illness. As the estimates of childhood obesity are on the rise, it is gravely impacting all the developmental domains of children such as physical, emotional, social progress. These disturbances are affecting school functioning and, health-related quality of life. Obese women are prone to menstrual disturbances, reduced fecundity in ovulating ladies, decreased fertility, and miscarriages. Obesity originates complex issues during childbirth and can affect newborns. Obesity interferes in semen parameters in male leading to reduced fertility or even leads to infertility. Thus, obesity has severe and long term implications on the reproductive system in males, females, and their offsprings (ASRM, 2008). Obesity has severe implications on the cardiovascular system, leading to coronary heart diseases, heart failure, and sudden death (Poirier et al., 2006). The sedentary lifestyle with a high-fat diet produces high levels of cholesterol in the blood, which in turns leads to plaque in the arteries. The excessive deposition of fatty adipose tissue causes adaptations/modifications in heart structure and function. Obesity plays a vital role in increasing risk factors associated with cardiac disorders such as dyslipidemia, hypertension, glucose intolerance, inflammatory markers, obstructive sleep apnea/hypoventilation, the prothrombotic state, and numerous other mechanisms (Poirier et al., 2006).  Therefore, eat better and exercise more to control the weight and lay off extra fatties.

Conclusion

The lifestyle choices related to our physical, mental and emotional state, increase or decrease the vulnerability of the individual to illness. Regular exercise and appropriate food choices can decrease the obesity-related risk of morbidity and mortality as well as can increase life expectancy. When the first line of treatment of obesity including exercise and low-calorie diet is unable to control the corpulence, supportive medical therapy is required to tackle the problem. The intentional weight loss and self-determination can have positive results in obese people. When BMI is ≥ 40 kg/m2, bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment to shed extra fat and to reduce co-morbidities, delivering positive clinical outcome (ASRM, 2008).