Male obesity levels in UK on the rise!
There is no doubt about it. Recent studies are revealing that a quarter of the UK male population suffers from obesity. With modern life and technologies making tasks easier, the resulting trend is a decreasing amount of exercise being done, and an increasing level of obesity.
This article aims to answer the most frequently asked questions concerning obesity and the treatments that are available.
What is obesity?
Obesity is a condition where an individual has a considerable accumulation of fat within their body which can heavily attributed or directly cause several serve and possibly life threatening conditions. Characterised by either a build up of fat on the stomach, commonly know as ‘apple-shaped', or a build up of fat on both the hips and thighs, referred to as ‘pear-shaped'. Another method that physicians can employ to categorise and determine obesity is by using the body mass index, or BMI for short. This index, which provides a reasonably accurate guide based on an individuals height and weight to determine whether or not they are of healthy weight, is commonly used by medical professionals as a standardised method of diagnosis.
How common is obesity?
As a condition, obesity is becoming ever more common, with recent figures suggesting that as many as one in four adults throughout the UK suffering from this medical condition. Obesity is ever so slightly more common amongst members of the female gender, with up to 24% of women compare to that of 23% of men having the condition.
What are the causes of obesity?
Obesity is caused by exceeding your recommended daily calorie intake, as when this number has been surpassed the body is unable to use the excess calories resulting in the body storing these as fatty deposits throughout the body. This daily allowance, which is set at 1950 calories for women and 2500 calories for men, is all that is require by the body to successfully complete its daily operations.
Although excessive calorie intake can account or attribute to the majority of obesity cases, it is also important to note that there are several other conditions which can increase the risk of this condition within certain individuals. These conditions, which can be both hereditary and genial, have a significant effect on an individual's appetite, metabolic rate and generally how the body stores fat.
What are the health risks of obesity?
There are massive health implications to those who suffer with obesity, many of which can be directly attributed to the condition it's self. These implications, which can include hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease, should be taken very seriously by people who are obese as they may be up to twice as likely to develop these than their healthy counterparts.
Obesity can also cause several other complaints, commonly these are known to include breathing difficulties, increased sweating as well as chronic pain affecting the back and joints.
How is obesity treated?
Obesity can be treated in many different ways in the modern age in which we live. These methods of treatment, ranging from a good diet and exercise to orally taken anti-obesity medications. Before undergoing any course of treatment for obesity, it is important to consult a doctor as some of these methods, including medication and surgeries, can create complications if indeed they are not best suited to you.
Ever more commonly doctors are opting to prescribe medication for patients of theirs who suffer with obesity. There are currently two types of anti-obesity medication, these are appetite suppressants and fat inhibitors. Appetite suppressants, including popular treatments Acomplia and Reductil, work by increasing the amount of certain chemicals released by the brain which can decrease appetite as well as other addictions. Fat inhibitors, on the other hand, do not work in this way. They work by attaching themselves to fat lipoids within the digestive system before they are able to be broken down and taken into the body. Xenical, which is one of these fat inhibiting treatments, can prevent as much as one third of that fat which you ingest from being broken down by the body.
