Overview of Obesity
Obesity does not just happen overnight - it develops gradually from poor diet and lifestyle choices.
Lifestyle choices
Lifestyle choices are an important factor in influencing your weight. Eating more calories than you need may be down to poor food choices - for example eating high fat, processed, or fast food - rather than filling up on fruit, vegetables and unrefined carbohydrates, such as wholemeal bread and brown rice.
Childhood obesity is a strong indicator of weight-related health problems in later life, showing that learned unhealthy lifestyle choices continue into adulthood.
Lack of physical activity
Lack of physical activity is another important factor that is related to obesity. Many of us have jobs that involve sitting at a desk for most of the day, and we rely heavily on our cars to get around. When it is time to relax, we tend to watch TV, or play computer games, and rarely take any regular exercise. If we are not active enough to use up the energy provided by food, the extra calories are stored as fat instead.
Some people tend to stay the same weight for years without much effort, whereas others find they put on weight quickly just by looking at a cream cake!
Medical reasons
In less than one out of every 100 cases, there is a medical reason for obesity, sorry to give you that disappointing news. This means that you have to look at your diet and your physical activity if you want to make that difference...
Most people know that being overweight increases your health risk for heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. Take a look at the list below for the physical and lifestyle conditions associated with being overweight.
| Physical conditions |
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Lifestyle conditions |
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Heart disease
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Respiratory disease
Cancer
Liver disease
Sleep apnoea
High cholesterol
Gallstones
Gastric reflux
Osteoarthritis
Achy joints |
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Infertility Incontinence
Skin fold infections
Depression
Low self-esteem
Feeling negative about your body
Never going out
Bullying
Relationship issues |
Is surgery right for me?
Weight loss surgery is performed to control weight . There are two basic ways that weight loss surgery works to help patients lose weight and improve both physical and lifestyle conditions.
- Restrictive procedure - changes in the configuration of the stomach.
A restrictive procedure limits the amount of food you eat to feel full, therefore, you should feel satisfied on smaller amounts of food and feel full for a longer period of time. You will eat less and lose weight.
- Malabsorptive procedure - technique of modifying the intestinal tract.
These procedures modify the body’s ability to absorb calories and nutrients from food. Fewer calories are absorbed, therefore you will lose weight.
In the UK, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) have published criteria for those considering weight loss surgery www.nice.org.uk
Are you eligible?
In order to be eligible you must:
- Be over the age of 18
- Demonstrate that all appropriate and available non-surgical measures have been adequately tried but have failed to maintain weight loss
- have a genuine desire to overcome your obesity problems and demonstrate full commitment to finally getting your weight under control
- fully understand both the benefits and the risks of weight loss surgery
- have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35 to 39 with other obesity related health problems
- have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or above
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