I'm not surprised there are many overweight people in your
subdivision. Obesity has become so increasingly common throughout the
world - specially in first world countries - that it is already
considered an epidemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). But what
is the basis for classifying a person obese?

People are classified into several categories on the basis of their
body mass index (BMI), which is computed by dividing a person's
weight (in kilograms) with the square of his/her height (in meters).

A person with a BMI of: a) less than 18.5, is underweight; b) 18.5 to
22.9, is normal; c) 23 to 24.9, is overweight or pre-obese; d) 25 to
29.9, is class I obese; and, e) 30 or higher, is class II obese.

What causes obesity? In general, obesity is simply the result of too
much food intake coupled with sedentary living over a long period of
time.

Obesity sometimes starts during childhood. Children who are fat when
they are between four to 11 years old frequently carry the condition to
adulthood. But not all fat children end up as fat adults. Furthermore,
most obese adults were not fat as children.

In adults, there are occasional inciting factors that lead to obesity
such as stoppage of smoking, and in women, pregnancy or use of birth
control pills. But in most instances, the condition gradually develops
without a noticeable precipitating cause.

Obesity entails numerous health risks. It increases one's chances of
developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, high blood levels of
cholesterol, gallbladder disease, sexual and reproductive problems,
sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis and some cancers.
Obesity is actually a chronic disease that increases one's risk of
dying prematurely by two to three times.

Hypertension and high blood levels of cholesterol, two of the health
conditions associated with obesity, are also major predisposing factors
for coronary artery disease and stroke.

In overweight men, the occurrence of impotence and sterility is higher
than average while in obese women, there is a higher than average
incidence of menstrual disorders, infertility and complicated
pregnancies. In both sexes, obesity increases one's risk of
developing gallbladder stones.

The cancers that are also strongly associated with obesity are those of
the breast, uterus, cervix, ovary and gallbladder among women, and
colon, rectum, prostate, pancreas and stomach among men.

Obesity also impairs a person's quality of life. Excess weight
stresses the body's joints particularly of the hips, knees and
ankles, and this results in or aggravates osteoarthritis. It is also a
common cause of low back pain and is a predisposing factor to the
development of varicose veins. Obesity likewise exaggerates the joint
and body pains that accompany aging.

Obesity, when left untreated, usually worsens, but when treated, it can
be corrected.

The safest and most effective way to treat obesity is by combining diet
and exercise.

In some instances, the use of drugs (i.e., appetite suppressants) for a
limited period can complement diet and exercise.

However, many of the appetite suppressant drugs available in the market
are dangerous because they are stimulants, habit-forming and/ or
addictive.

Their use should therefore be limited to, at most, three to four
months, and only as part of a comprehensive weight-reducing program
that is supervised by a physician or a trained professional.

In morbidly obese patients (i.e., people who are 100 lbs or more
overweight), surgery can be an option.

The surgical procedures employed to treat obesity are designed to
either limit the entry of food into the stomach or reduce the amount of
nutrients that is absorbed by by-passing segments of the small
intestines.

But these procedures carry some risks because they are major operations
in a high-risk population. Obese patients often have concomitant
medical problems such as diabetes, heart disease and breathing
difficulties that complicate any form of surgery.

The results of a study - recently published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association - that involved 16,155 patients who
underwent obesity surgery highlights the risks involved in these
procedures.

Within a year of their obesity surgery, more than five percent of men
and nearly three percent of women aged 35 to 44 were dead.

In those 65 to 74, nearly 13 percent of men and about six percent of
women were dead, while in patients 75 and older, half of the men and 40
percent of the women were dead.

The study clearly showed a higher-than expected risk of death in the
year after obesity surgery, even among young patients. The common
deadly complications of obesity surgery include malnutrition, infection
and gallbladder problems.


If you are interested in Conquering Obesity, I recommend to read the
book which is available in this http://conquerobesity.50webs.com

More Health and Fitness Ebooks are available at
http://betterhealthnow.50webs.com

Thank you for your time and for reading,

Jimmy Navarro - Editor
Infomaster Research & Publishing Center
http://betterhealthnow.50webs.com

Hi,

This is meant for Jimmy Navarro - Editor, Infomaster Research & Publishing Center (an idiot who spams).

Your lecture/spam was addressed to (at?) alt.food.diabetic inter alia.

I infer, possibly wrongly, that you think that that group is devoted to food that may promote obesity.

What a crock of sh1t!

You ought to have realised that alt.food.diabetic is about recipes for diabetics, low in carbohydrates in particular.
The diabetics who frequent that group are far more knowledgeable about their condition than you are.

You also ought to realise that diabetes (type 2) is now believed to cause overweight (and obesity) in some sufferers, never the reverse.
In no case can it be shown *at all* that overweight/obesity causes diabetes.
This is concluded as a result of proper medical research, not from the anecdote that informs your conclusions.

Of course, none of us thinks that the overweight shouldn't come down to a healthy weight, diabetic or not.
But I, for one, won't buy your book.

Take care,
Phil.

"Time wounds all heels."

http://uk.geocities.com/philadkinsp/diabetes.html
http://www.aypee.me.uk/index.html

Diagnosed December 2005
Metformin, 3 × 500 mg
Gliclazide, 2 × 80 mg
Simvastatin, 1 × 40 mg
(and a whole bunch of other stuff for other problems)