The Edge of Being Fat over Obese!!!
Author: Chris Read

According to some reports occurring everyday on the newspapers, we come to know that there is an obesity scourge which is killing nearly as many people as smoking. Then suddenly we come to realize that the numbers were slightly wrong, or significantly incorrect. So if you are to believe tabloids in US, it is OK to be fatty as long as you are not obese.

So let us consider an example to justify this. We all know that corpulence/obesity can lead to high blood pressure. We also know that high blood pressure increases your risk of having a stroke. If an overweight person develops high blood pressure and then dies of a stroke, what will the statement as per his/her death certificate? According to it, he/she died of a stroke - it won't say the person died of obesity or overweight.

So, if we carry out a national study on deaths due to obesity by studying death certificates, how can we possibly know how many are suffering to this by just analyzing the death certificates??

If a person is obese, the risk of developing many diseases and health problems increases - Here is a list to name a few:

-- Hypertension (high blood pressure)

-- Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)

--Stroke

-- Type 2 diabetes

-- Coronary heart disease

-- Gallbladder cancer

-- Osteoarthritis

-- Sleep apnea and respiratory problems

-- Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)

On the other hand though, being overweight has a significant bearing on your chances of recovering from many cancers. Obese people are much more likely to have fast advancing prostate cancer than people who are of normal weight.

So now the question that arises on your mind: If it is OK to be plump, how plump is OK? Where do we draw the distinguishing line between Obesity and Overweight? The transition is not black and white - it is gradual. If a person is categorized as overweight, but not quite obese, how can we tell that person that as long as he/she remains just at the limit of overweight (not yet obese), there is no increased risk of developing these diseases - that his/her life expectancy will not be affected?

Walk down a busy road and see how many obese or overweight people there are:

Aged 10 - 19 – Very few
Aged 20 - 29 -- Few
Aged 30 - 39 -- Quite a few
Aged 40 - 49 -- Even more
Aged 60 - 69 -- some, but not as many as the group above
Aged 70 - 79 -- fewer
Aged 80 - 89 -- very very few
Over the age of 90 - hardly any at all.

Isn't this telling us something eye-catching? Either people go on diets when they get old, or that people who are obese and overweight get filtered out long the way.

So we see that there is some advantage in being fatty rather than being obese, which obviously rues the fact that both the terms are used in the same sense. So think twice before labeling yourself as an OBESE.







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Chris Read, an associated editor to Hateweight.com, is a contributing author to the Hateweight.com for distinct article sites/journals. Please feel free to visit the website Hateweight.com for more information on Obesity, Weight Loss methods, exercise or any Fitness related issues. Or write to him AT chrisread001@gmail.com. Any comments and /or suggestions will be highly appreciated. Please note that this article is not a substitute for medical advice.

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