Excess weight increases your risk for several conditions: Cardiovascular disease: Obesity is a risk factor for several problems of the heart including atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), coronary artery disease, chest pain, heart attacks and blood clots. Blood clots can also increase your risk of stroke.
All-causes of death (mortality).High blood pressure (hypertension).High LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides (dyslipidemia).Type 2 diabetes.Coronary heart disease.Stroke.Gallbladder disease.Osteoarthritis (a breakdown of cartilage and bone within a joint).More items...
Americans cite dislike of exercise (24 percent) and lack of time (22 percent) as their main barriers to maintaining a healthy weight. Most Americans also believe their metabolism is detrimental to weight loss – 60 percent of women and 46 percent of men say their metabolism is working against them.
Acculturation (changes of original cultural patterns of one or more groups when they come into continuous contact with one another) can affect obesity by encouraging the abandonment of traditional beliefs and behaviors that minimize the risk of overweight and the adoption of beliefs and behaviors that increase the risk ...
Obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little. If you consume high amounts of energy, particularly fat and sugars, but do not burn off the energy through exercise and physical activity, much of the surplus energy will be stored by the body as fat.
Being underweight can affect your skeletal system. Not getting enough nutrients can make your body calcium deficient, which can lead to osteoporosis (loss in bone density). It can also affect your immune system because your body does not have the nutrients it needs to fight off disease or infection.
15 Common Mistakes When Trying to Lose WeightFocusing only on the scale. ... Eating too many or too few calories. ... Not exercising or exercising too much. ... Not lifting weights. ... Choosing low fat or “diet” foods. ... Overestimating how many calories you burn during exercise. ... Not eating enough protein. ... Not eating enough fiber.More items...
There are many barriers to weight loss including lack of support, lack of exercise, lack of willpower, and emotion-driven goal-incongruent behavior. To overcome barriers to weight loss, specific self-regulation skills must be taught. Each barrier necessitates different self-regulation skills to be successful.
Take advantage of opportunities in your day-to-day life to make nutritious choices. Balancing your lifestyle with regular physical activity and stress management techniques can go a long way in feeling your best at any weight. Get nutrition tips and advice to make healthy eating easier.
Just as your personal culture affects your attitude about food and eating, cultural values and norms affect how you think about fatness and thinness. Some groups of people are more accepting of higher body weights than others. Traditionally, most cultures have valued a certain amount of heaviness over extreme thinness.
The evidence for social and environmental factors that contribute to obesity are often underappreciated. Obesity prevalence is significantly associated with sex, racial ethnic identity, and socioeconomic status, which creates complex relationships between each of these characteristics.
The prevalence of obesity was 19.7% and affected about 14.7 million children and adolescents. Obesity prevalence was 12.7% among 2- to 5-year-olds, 20.7% among 6- to 11-year-olds, and 22.2% among 12- to 19-year-olds. Childhood obesity is also more common among certain populations.