Obesity is a medical condition where excess body fat gets accumulated leading to adverse effects on health. Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to determine whether a person is obese or not. People having BMI greater than30 kg/m2 are diagnosed as obese. Eating too much junk food and living a sedentary lifestyle are prime reasons of obesity. And obesity brings in diseases like breathing difficulties, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases and osteoarthritis.

Here are few reasons why we should rise to the occasion and fight obesity now.

Mortality

Obesity has been identified as one of the major and preventable causes of death around the world. Being among the highest percentage of obese populations, we are pushing ourselves toward self destruction. A BMI over 32 has been found to double the mortality rate than that less than 30. Severe obesity reduces life expectancy by about 10 years.

Eating too much junk food should be avoided in the first place. Americans eat junk foods because they are readily available, and because television commercials provoke eating such food. Fat cheese burgers, bacon and ham are easily available when you are hungry, for instance. So are those inviting soft drinks. These are much cheaper and tastier than fresh fruits and homemade food. If easy availability and low price are prime attractions, huge portions of such food fuels obesity. For obese smokers, the picture is worse. They are doubly harming their body which can lead a life full of problems and diseases!

Morbidity

Various physical and mental conditions termed as metabolic syndrome, gets aggravated by obesity. These include conditions like high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides and blood cholesterol. The complications may arise out of obesity or inter-related issues like sedentary lifestyle and poor diet. Increased body weight is responsible for osteoarthritis, sleeping disorder and mental problems like social stigma. An increased number of fat cells leads to conditions like fatty liver, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes.

Urgency

According to findings of a recent study, about three-fourths of the American population will be obese by 2020. The present scenario is not much better as America has the highest percentage of obese population in the world. The situation has reached at an alarming level with more children getting obese. Once young people start getting obese, the fight becomes more difficult. A recent survey has revealed that two out of three Americans are overweight or obese. This is a stunning 50% increase from the stats we had a decade ago. According to this study, more Americans are going to die this year from obesity-related causes than last few years. Obesity is poised to take over smoking as leading cause of preventable death in America.

The battle against obesity should start at school level by spreading awareness among young ones. The importance of a balanced diet, nutritional value of foods, and the significance of regular exercise should be explained to future generations, too. People need to follow a schedule of exercise and remain active, plus control food habits to help prevent this deadly epidemic.

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