Obesity affects almost 40% of adult Americans! In fact, each year it causes about 1 in 5 deaths, according to a study by the American Journal of Public Health.
Obesity is also linked with chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and even cancer.
With so much of the population struggling with obesity and chronic disease, it’s clear it’s a public health crisis.
That’s why in this article we go over a few scary facts about obesity and your overall health that you definitely need to know! Let’s dig in!
Obesity is a chronic disease
The term obesity refers to when a person has an excessive amount of body fat that affects their overall health. To determine this, you check your body mass index. You can use a BMI calculator for this. It checks your weight against your height.
Aside from obesity being a chronic disease, it also leads to other chronic diseases and health problems.
Obesity Health Risks
There are multiple mental and physical conditions obesity can cause. For example:
Heart Disease & Stroke-
Obesity causes high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Both of these, in turn, cause heart disease and stroke.
Type 2 Diabetes-
Obesity leads to high blood sugar levels. As these levels continue to rise and do not go down, your body falls behind. It becomes unable to keep up and regulate your blood sugar. This then becomes a chronic condition that leads to diabetes.
Osteoarthritis-
The extra pressure obesity places on joints wears away at cartilage. This leads to osteoarthritis in the knees, hip, or back.
Gallbladder Disease-
Both gallbladder disease and gallstones can develop if you’re obese. Once you start trying to lose weight, go at a slow and steady pace, as losing weight at a fast pace can cause gallstones to form.
Sleep Apnea-
The extra weight placed around the lungs leads to sleep apnea. People with sleep apnea cause people to snore or even stop breathing while asleep for a brief time.
Cancers-
Multiple types of cancer are linked to obesity. These include cancers of the: colon, breast, kidney, and esophagus.
Depression-
The chemicals in the brain become unbalanced when coupled with obesity.
It can cause poor self-esteem and hinder certain aspects of quality life which causes depression to develop.
People living with obesity has increased-
The number of people living with obesity has increased at a steady rate since the 1980s.
Experts agree that changing lifestyle habits and unhealthy fast food chains are likely contributors. Diets are definitely different than they were 30 years ago, and modern technology has also decreased physical activity. The fact of the matter remains, obesity is something to worry about and the health factors that we went over today are downright scary!!
If you live in or near Atlanta, Georgia, and weight gain has caused adverse health effects for you, losing the extra pounds should be your top priority. But how?
Start A Medically Supervised Weight Loss at AMI-
Your health is one of the most important things in your life. And obesity and chronic disease are difficult conditions to live with, and could lead to even further health complications. To prevent additional problems from forming, you can start a medically supervised weight loss program like what we offer at the Atlanta Medical Institute located in Atlanta, Georgia.
AMI is a premier facility for medically supervised weight loss.
Many patients attempt and fail to lose weight on their own. In order to improve health and help patients address overweight or obesity issues, medically supervised weight loss programs are now giving patients the tools they need to lose weight and keep it off.
The main purpose is not only to help patients lose and manage their body weight, but also to maintain a healthier lifestyle, improve quality of life and decrease the risk of diseases such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, abnormal blood fats, metabolic syndrome, cancer, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, obesity hypoventilation syndrome, reproductive problems or gallstones.
So as you can see, at AMI we’re much more than just a weight loss clinic in Atlanta. We’re your team of friendly and experienced professionals who want you to succeed! We’ll not only help you shed pounds but also help you to feel healthy and happy, too! We’ll be your partner through a journey designed to encourage your self-confidence as you work toward the body you’ve always wanted.
Click here to request your appointment with us today!
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