The Facts About Being Overweight |
||
|
|
||
|
Serious overweight is a serious healthy risk, as well as lowering your self-esteem and interfering with your ability to participate enjoyably in many activities. More men than women are seriously overweight and overweight is more of a health is risk for men than women. Overweight is more of a health risk for storing too much surplus energy as gat. This happens for a number of reasons, not only or even because of overeating. Healthy weight loss is aimed at losing some of this fat, not water or muscle. The most common approach to losing weight has been a 'diet'. In fact, this will make you fatter in the long run. An effective weight loss programme avoids this risk. If you are seriously overweight (20 per cent or more over your ideal weight), your risk of heart disease, angina (chest pains) and high blood pressure goes up 50 per cent; your risk of stroke goes up 60 per cent; your risk of kidney disease, up 100 per cent; of gall bladder disease, up 50 per cent; of gall bladder stones, up 100 per cent; of cancer of the gall bladder or liver, up 70 per cent; of liver disease, up 150 per cent; of appendicitis, up 125 per cent; of hernia or rheumatic pains, up 50 per cent; and your risk of diabetes increases 300 per cent! Further, being overweight increases the amount of cholesterol in your blood, with the associated health risks discussed earlier. Being seriously overweight is associated with an increase in the level of a hormone called cortisol in your blood. Cortisol is usually released when you are under certain kinds of stress and is now known to reduce your body's immune response, its ability to protect itself against disease. This suggests serious overweight may also contribute to an increased risk of infectious illnesses. Whether this is a direct effect of being overweight or an indirect result of the extra stress of being overweight, it is another nail in the coffin of the popular myth of overweight people being jolly and happy. Many suffer from low self-esteem, because of their own harsh self-judgements and the prejudiced assumptions others make about overweight people being lazy and greedy, prejudices that can even affect their employment prospects. They often suffer from social anxiety and are at risk of being lonely, while their body size often acts as a barrier to recreations. It may sound like a joke, but serious overweight can also make sexual relations difficult physically, apart from its effects on self-esteem and shyness. If you are overweight, weight loss definitely belongs on your agenda for the sake of both your good health and psychological well-being. |
||