Obesity

Treating Obesity

The best way to treat obesity is to eat a healthy, reduced calorie diet, and to exercise regularly. Some simple ways of doing this are:

• Eat a balanced, calorie-controlled diet as recommended by your GP or weight-loss management professional.
• Join a local weight loss club.
• Take up activities such as fast walking, jogging, swimming or tennis for between 2.5 and 5 hours per week.
• Eat slowly and avoid situations where you could be tempted to overeat.

There is no quick fix for obesity, so set yourself realistic weigh-loss goals so that you don’t lose motivation. Involving your friends and family in weight loss activities can make you more likely to stick to them. Remember that losing even a small amount of weight, and maintaining this for life, can reduce your risk of weight related health problems.

What is Obesity?

Obesity is the word that is used to describe someone who is very overweight, or have a high degree of body fat. Being obese is different to being overweight—when you are overweight you have an excess of body weight, but being obese means that you have a high amount of excess body fat.

Obesity is generally caused by consuming more calories than you burn off. This excess energy is then stored by the body as fat. The most widely used method to check for obesity is Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is a measure of healthy weight compared to height. You can use a BMI healthy weight chart to work out your score.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

To find your BMI score, find your weight on the left hand side of the chart below and follow it across until it matches up with your weight (the example on the chart is a person 5ft 7” tall who weighs 13 stone. This puts them in the ‘overweight’ category). If your weight and height puts you in the sections marked in orange or red, you are at risk of developing weight-related health problems.

Risks of Obesity

Taking steps to reduce your weight if you are overweight or obese is important, as you are at risk of developing serious health problems. Being obese can lead to a number of serious and potentially life-threatening conditions such as:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Coronary heart disease
• Some types of cancer, such as breast or bowel cancer
• Stroke

Obesity can also affect your quality of life and lead to mental health problems such as low self esteem or depression. You can start to lose weight by making changes to your everyday life. There are some handy tips on the next page on how to start to reducing your weight.