Obesity And Health

What causes obesity and how does it damage health?

The main causes of obesity are an imbalance of energy intake and expenditure because of over-supply of nutrition - more than is needed for normal growth and metabolism - along with a sedentary lifestyle. This results in adipose tissue, causing chronic inflammation which can then lead to metabolic disorders, insulin resistance, more cell division and organ tissue complications. Other negative effects such as arterial stiffness and hormonal have also been reported.

Consequently these effects result in serious illnesses including T2DM, CVD, immune disorders and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease as well as various types of cancer. The risk starts at the overweight stage but increases as that condition develops.

A global pandemic!

The financial cost of obesity to the NHS in the UK is reported as £6 billion per year but that already massive figure is set to rise by almost 70% to £9.7 billion by 2050. That clearly demonstrates the rapidly-increasing risk of obesity to the UK’s health, with >21 million adults in the UK alone forecast to be obese in just 16 years’ time - almost 40% of the adult population.

The high risk to health is also recognised in Europe where a new framework was very recently developed for its management. That framework highlights agreed cornerstone solutions including Nutritional Therapy, physical activity, sleep hygiene and stress management.

Of course, obesity rates are now crazy in the US with >40% suffering from what is described as a chronic disease, with most States predicted to see >50% adult overall obesity in just 6 years’ time. The current situation already translates to a staggering annual cost of $1.4 trillion. But actually the US is far from the most obese part of the world. For men, it only ranks as 10th highest and is way back in 36th place for women. So the obesity disease really is a global pandemic with related costs of overweight and obesity set to hit US$ 3 trillion per year by 2030 and exceed US$ 18 trillion by 2060.

What is the health prognosis?

Whilst the predicted healthcare costs are mind-blowing, the more serious consequences are those to health and mortality. Back in 2021, the British Heart Foundation estimated circa. 31,000 heart and circulatory resulting deaths per year, similar to the effects of smoking.

Meanwhile 22,800 cases of cancer each year in the UK alone are due to being overweight or obese. As a consequence, the types of cancer from which obese people are at greater risk is quite extensive with as many as 13 listed including the commonly-reported breast, colon and endometrial (a uterine cancer) plus another 10. In fact, the range of obesity-related cancers make up around 40% of those diagnosed annually in the US. It is therefore estimated that excess body fat leads to ~17% higher risk of cancer-specific mortality.

A key solution to preventing such obesity-related cancers is sustainable weight loss rather than the “yo-yo” weight loss commonly experienced with many dieting methods. This was reported for breast cancer in women aged 50+ but sustainable, healthy weight loss is also likely to help prevent other cancers.

Of course, the extensive range of common, obesity-causing diseases listed in this blog is not complete. For example, numerous studies have indicated that the risk of dementia is significantly increased with higher body fat accumulation. This includes a fairly recent study showing that the effect of two such types of fat (visceral and subcutaneous) is to significantly shrink brain volume.

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Disclaimer:

This blog has been compiled in good faith for educational purposes. It also includes references to other information provided by relevant organisations sourced via the internet and my related interpretation.  Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the above, I cannot accept liability for any unknown errors, omissions or misinterpretation of the information. 

The information provided is not a substitute for professional medical advice which can be sought from a medical professional or other healthcare provider.