The term ‘obese’ describes a person who’s very overweight, with a lot of body fat.
Two-thirds of all Americans are overweight; one-third of them are obese. More than a billion people worldwide are overweight and over 600 million are obese.
It’s created an epidemic of high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), heart disease, heart-related deaths — plus strokes and diabetes. Also, many types of cancer have been linked with obesity.
Overweight women have higher levels of male hormones, which ups their risk of heart disease. Those hormones also cause male pattern balding, some excess facial hair, and acne.
Excess weight affects another hormone — insulin — which leads to diabetes. Having diabetes increases your heart disease risk. It’s a vicious circle.
Obesity has a real impact on economy and creates a large public burden for the entire country. Obesity cuts into the labor force’s productivity. It also creates a large economic burden on all society—a recent study demonstrated that almost 10 percent of all medical expenditures can be directly attributed to obesity.
And in an era where military recruitment is suffering from two very real wars on the ground, it’s truly depressing to note that the leading cause of early discharge from the armed forces is excess weight.
We live in an obesogenic environment in which it is much easier to get fat than to stay fit. Many believe losing weight is merely a matter of moving more and eating less. But they are wrong. Obesity is the net result of dramatic changes to our environment, food supply, and surging stress levels.
How developed country governments deal with obesity
by Alba Cabrera Angles
37.7%. That is the percentage of obesity just in West Virginia.