Author: Elaine Guo
Editors: Sophia Chen, Kevin Yao
Artist: Carys Chan
Obesity can be defined as having excessive fat which can lead to health problems and
increased risks of medical issues. Additionally, it is a chronic disease that affects the quality of life of 1 in 8 people in the world, as of 2022. In that same time period, 37 million kids 5 and under were overweight at such a young age. The amount of adolescent obesity has quadrupled since 1990.
This disease is primarily caused by consuming more calories than your body uses by eating more food than you need. Consuming processed foods, high-sugar drinks, and high amounts of saturated fat can contribute to obesity. Lack of sleep can also affect the hormones that keep your hunger under control, increasing the risk of overeating. Stress can cause your body to make more hormones that manage hunger, signaling a craving to eat high-fat and high-sugar foods. These are also known as comfort foods, which your body will store as extra fat. Additionally, medications like antidepressants and steroids can contribute to weight gain.
Metabolism affects the rate at which you digest food. Your metabolism converts your extra calories into lipids stored in body fat. When you run out of tissues to store those lipids, the fat cells enlarge and secrete hormones to cause inflammation. Inflammation causes insulin resistance, meaning your body doesn’t produce enough insulin to lower the sugar and fat levels in your body, causing them to build up and eventually cause obesity.
Many health problems are caused by obesity. It can cause cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, neurological disorders, cancer, etc. These are all noncommunicable diseases which means it’s not infectious and have caused more than 5 million deaths since 2019. For children and adolescents, it can have psychosocial consequences. Often times, they will have poor school performance and can also be bullied and discriminated against by others. This affects their mental health and can make them insecure. Obesity also affects the economy. If the amount of diagnosed obesity doesn’t decrease, its cost will be 3 trillion dollars in the US per year by 2030 which will hurt the economy.
Getting diagnosed and treated for obesity can be easy. Eating more nutritiously is important in losing weight. Make sure you eat a lot of healthy foods and not just junk food like the typical meals at fast food chains. Having a healthy diet ensures that you get the nutrition your body needs to carry on daily activities. Another way to lose weight is through daily exercise. Staying active every day will help you burn off calories. Medication is sometimes used like appetite suppressants that can intercept pathways in your brain that affect when you feel hungry. It reduces your hunger so you won’t eat as often. Surgery can also be an option. Most importantly, having a good support group can help. Having a support group or counseling can make your journey smoother as they support the changes. They can help you manage stress and improve your mental state. Your mental state is the most important.
Citations:
“Is It My Fault I Have Obesity?” Cleveland Clinic, 16 Sept. 2024,
“Obesity and Overweight.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization,
www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight. Accessed 23 Sept.
2024.
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