Understanding Obesity: Causes and Treatment

Medically reviewed by: Dr. Tom Babu, Medical Director - Written by Jasni Salim - Updated on 26/08/2024

Obesity has emerged as a significant public health challenge, affecting millions worldwide and leading to various chronic diseases. Understanding the multifaceted obesity causes from genetic factors to lifestyle choices—is essential for effective prevention and obesity treatment. 

Obesity is a chronic condition that does not resolve itself over time and may even progress. It occurs when an individual has excess fat in the body, and this may be dangerous sometimes. Being obese implies that your body is fatter than it’s supposed to be. A lot of this extra fat can alter how well the body functions and can even grow into severe health issues. Several interventions can be made towards obesity prevention and control with one focusing on the management of weight and improvement of the general healthy status.

This article discusses the causes of obesity and the approaches and weight loss treatments that can be employed to reduce its effects on health.

What is meant by Obesity?

Obesity is a condition whereby one has an excessive amount of body fat. It is unhealthy, and that is one of the things that it can lead to. This condition develops when people take foods with more calories as the energy needed by the body’s cells. If you take many foods rich in sugar and fat but do a little exercise, the extra energy is deposited in your body as fat. Although people with obesity are not sick, having more fat in the body increases the chances of developing other diseases such as; diabetes, and heart disease among others. Hence it is advisable to lose excess body weight and get approved obesity medication to improve health. The majority of the people who are obese attempt to lose weight. But sustaining the loss of weight is as crucial as the work done to lose it in the first place.

Symptoms of Obesity

Unlike other medical conditions, obesity cannot be observed by its symptoms that are visible to all people. However, doctors search for certain signals that could indicate if a person is obese. Here are some key factors they consider: 

• Extra Belly Fat: Doctors measure several parameters including the accumulation of a lot of fat in the stomach in comparison with the other regions of the body.
• Waist Size: If a man is considered to be obese he/she should have a waist size of over 40 inches. For the female categories of the population, about physical dimensions, the above-mentioned norm does not exceed 35 inches.
• Body Mass Index (BMI): It is common to define a person with a BMI of more than thirty as an obese person.

These measurements help doctors understand whether someone has obesity and can guide them in offering the right advice and obesity treatment. Sometimes, doctors also suggest weight loss surgery if the people want immediate results.

What Causes Obesity?

Eating more calories than you use up through daily activities and exercise over a long period can lead to obesity. Those extra calories build up and cause weight gain. 

But weight gain isn’t always just about calories or being inactive. Some factors are beyond your control. For losing weight, apart from exercises – sometimes weight loss surgery is necessary.

Common obesity causes include:

• Genetics: There is information about the potential for genes to influence the ways your body metabolizes food and how you develop body fat.
• Ageing: Some people may find that they lose muscle mass as they age and that their metabolism may decrease, which also causes them to gain weight.
• Lack of sleep: This has a way of influencing your hormonal balance; you will feel hungrier than you normally would and crave foods that contain a lot of calories.
• High stress: Hormone changes brought by stress make you eat more and store more fat at the same time.
• Pregnancy: It is clinically proven that borrowed weight is difficult to shed and puts pregnant women at risk of developing obesity.

Certain health conditions can also lead to weight gain and eventually obesity. These include:

• Metabolic syndrome: A cluster of conditions, such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, low levels of ‘good’ cholesterol, and excess body weight that make you more likely to have heart disease, stroke, or other health problems.
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): A condition that affects levels of hormones in your body.
• Hypothyroidism: A condition characterized by a deficiency of particular hormones produced by your thyroid gland.
• Osteoarthritis (OA) and other pain-causing conditions: These can lead to less activity because of the pain.”

What are the Three Types of Obesity?

Obesity is a condition where a person has too much body fat. Doctors have divided obesity into three types based on how serious it is. Understanding these types is important because it helps doctors decide how to treat each person. Here are the three types of obesity:

• Class I Obesity: This type includes people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 to 35 kg/m².
• Class II Obesity: This type includes people with a BMI of 35 to 40 kg/m².
• Class III Obesity: This final type includes people with a BMI of over 40 kg/m².

Knowing which class, you belong to can help find the right weight loss treatments.

Conclusion

In summary, obesity results from a mix of lifestyle factors, genetic influences, and health conditions. Addressing these causes with a balanced approach can help manage and treat obesity effectively.

Get in touch with Silverline Hospital for the best obesity treatment in Kerala. We ensure that you will receive the highest quality of care, personalized approach and tailored treatment plans right here.