Remarkably visible in many cases, however, obesity is a disease that is sometimes not considered as such, and, therefore, those who suffer from it end up underestimating the cumulative damage it represents and the risks of debuting in other diseases. Although our country is not one of those with the highest rates of obesity, nor in the region, there are obese from the oldest to the youngest.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines overweight and obesity “as an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that can be detrimental to health.” The Mayo Clinic organization believes that “obesity is not just an aesthetic problem. It is a medical problem that increases the risk of diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain types of cancer.
Junk foods that invade markets and restaurants so much, sedentary lifestyle and other bad lifestyle habits are the main causes of overweight and obesity. In fact, the WHO estimates that the latter has tripled globally since 1975. According to a study by that international organization, in 2016 more than 1.9 billion people over the age of 18 were overweight, and more than 650 million were obese.
But since fizzy drinks, hamburgers and fries are not only products consumed by adults, children are also an easy target in this dilemma. The culture of only eating fast food, which is equal to the lack of culture in taking advantage of vegetables and greens, the laziness to buy, wash and cook them, and “saving time”, caused that in 2016 there were more than 340 million children and adolescents who are overweight or obese.
They are innocent, without food education, who start from an early age with problems of high blood pressure and diabetes that, in the long run, lead to others. Mayo Clinic states that “although there are genetic, behavioral, metabolic and hormonal influences on body weight, obesity occurs when more calories are eaten than are burned through normal daily activities and exercise. The body stores these excess calories as fat.
Justifying that the child is overweight by inheritance from the father, which may be so in some cases due to genes, is a poor justification to cover up the bad habits of the parents that are later transmitted to the children. “Obesity tends to run in the whole family. That’s not just because of the genes they share. Family members also tend to share similar eating and activity habits.
The weight gain experienced by women during and after pregnancy, quitting smoking, not getting enough or too much sleep, stress and intestinal bacteria can influence a person to develop obesity. Other risk factors include arthritis, which limits exercise, and medications that cause weight gain, such as certain antidepressants, anticonvulsants, diabetes medications, antipsychotics, steroids, and beta-blockers.
Body weight versus cognitive function
We already talked about the causes, however, another approach as important as the consequences, shows, according to a study published on the JAMA Network Open site, according to the Prensa Latina agency, that “excess body weight could affect the function cognition and accelerate brain aging. There are experts who believe that being overweight takes its toll not only on the body, but also on memory and learning.
After doing MRI tests on those involved in the study, it was concluded that when there is more body fat, there are more asymptomatic brain lesions, which affects cognitive abilities. And on the contrary, the data pointed out that when a child loses weight, his mental capacity improves; the latter, an encouraging point, given that the child population, more and more, is presenting problems of overweight or obesity.
How to reverse weight gain?
With a balanced diet and organized schedules it is possible to lose weight. To achieve this, it is not only necessary to have certain products for the diet; you must balance those that you have in the six meals of the day, bet more on fruits and vegetables, even if this means more time and work, and a flavor that is not as special as those that are incorporated into sweets, cookies and salty dishes They are already processed and packaged.
Obesity and overweight are preventable. To do this, reported the WHO, “energy intake from the amount of total fat and sugars should be limited; increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as legumes, whole grains and nuts; and perform regular physical activity (60 minutes per day for young people and 150 minutes per week for adults)”. It’s all a matter of will and persistence to achieve good results.
