How Does Obesity Affect the Body?

Obesity, which is an important problem worldwide, is a disease that causes serious health problems. These health problems are conditions that affect the brain, blood vessels, heart, liver, gallbladder, bones and joints.

The World Obesity Atlas 2022, published by the World Obesity Federation, predicts that by 2030, 1 billion people worldwide will live with obesity, including 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men. The findings highlight that countries are not only missing the 2025 WHO target of stopping the increase in obesity at 2010 levels, but are on track to double the number of people with obesity worldwide. The number of people living with obesity more than doubles in low- and middle-income countries and triples in low-income countries. Turkey is one of the top twenty countries in the world in obesity. So how does obesity affect the body? Here is the answer to this question:

The respiratory system

Because of the fat stored around the neck, the airway becomes very small, which can make it difficult to breathe at night. This condition is called sleep apnea.

Digestive system

Obesity has been associated with a higher risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Obesity also increases the risk of developing gallstones. Fat can also build up around the liver, leading to liver damage, scar tissue, and even liver failure.

Cardiovascular System

People with obesity have to work harder than normal in order for their heart to pump blood to the body. It leads to high blood pressure. High blood pressure is also one of the leading causes of stroke. High blood pressure can also cause hardening and narrowing of the blood vessels that carry blood to the heart.

Endocrine System

Obesity can also make the body's cells resistant to insulin. Insulin is a hormone that carries sugar from the blood to cells. If you are insulin resistant, sugar cannot be taken up by cells, causing high blood sugar concentration. This increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, where blood sugar is consistently too high. Type 2 diabetes also leads to a host of health problems, from kidney disease to heart disease, from blindness to stroke.

Reproductive System

Obesity can complicate pregnancy. It is also linked to decreased testosterone levels in men.

Skeletal and Muscular Systems

Obesity also negatively affects bone density and muscle mass and causes imbalances. This is called osteosarcopenic obesity. Osteosarcopenic obesity can lead to a higher risk of fractures, physical disability, insulin resistance, and worse overall health outcomes. The extra weight can also put too much pressure on the joints, causing pain and stiffness.

Skin Health

Rashes may occur in the folds of the body skin, discoloration and thickening may be seen in the folds of the body. It has also been associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Cancer

Obesity is believed to cause 90,000 cancer deaths each year. As your body mass index (BMI) increases, so does your risk of cancer and death from cancer. These types of cancer are:

• Endometrial cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Postmenopausal breast cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Gallbladder cancer
• Liver cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Leukemia

Diabetes

Obesity is an important cause of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes occurs when blood sugar is too high for your body to manage. Type 2 diabetes can lead to:

• Amputations (loss of limb)
• Heart disease
• Paralysis
• Blindness
• Kidney disease
• High blood pressure
• Nerve damage
• Infections that are difficult to heal
• Impotence

Hypertension

Obesity is a major cause of high blood pressure. About three out of four patients with high blood pressure have obesity. High blood pressure also increases the risk of other diseases, such as heart disease.

How Do You Know If You Are Obese?

The most commonly used method to check if you are at a healthy weight is body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of whether you are at a healthy weight for your height.

BMI for most adults:

• Between 18.5 and 24.9 means you are at a healthy weight.
• 25 to 29.9 means you are overweight.
• 30 to 39.9 means you are obese.
• 40 or above means you are severely obese.

BMI is not used to diagnose obesity because very muscular people can have a high BMI without excess fat. A better measure of excess fat is waist measurement, which can be used as an additional measure for people who are overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9) or moderately obese (BMI 30 to 34.9). In general, if the waist size is 94 cm or more in men and 80 cm and above in women, obesity can be suspected.

Causes of Obesity

Obesity is usually caused by consuming more calories than you burn. Excess energy is stored as fat in the body. Obesity is a growing problem worldwide. Because for many people, modern life involves eating excessive amounts of high-calorie foods and spending a lot of time sitting.

Obesity in the World with Tables and Data

According to the researches, the global prevalence of adults living with obesity projected from 2010 to 2030 is as follows: *(Data are taken from the 2022 World Atlas of Obesity published by World Obesity Day.)

The following table also gives the estimated prevalence of obesity among men and women with BMI ≥30kg/m2 in the top 20 countries of the world in 2030: *(Data are taken from the 2022 World Atlas of Obesity published by World Obesity Day.)

The global prevalence of children aged 5-19 years living with obesity predicted from 2010 to 2030 is as follows: *(Data taken from the 2022 World Atlas of Obesity published by World Obesity Day.)