Can we reverse the obesity epidemic?

According to the latest report by the WHO, 35 million children under 5 are overweight, and by 2022, over 390 million kids and teens aged 5–19 had excess weight, with 160 million facing full-blown obesity. 

It was a long time ago when obesity was just a health issue; now it’s a global crisis. Obesity is a serious health condition that raises the risk of diseases like diabetes, heart problems, cancer, and memory loss. 

It’s not just about eating too much or not exercising; genetics, environment, and social factors, like income, access to healthy food, and stress, also play a big role. But here is the silver lining: it can be reversed!

Is it a matter of willpower? Let’s dive into the article to find out. 

A Walk Through Obesity

Obesity is a term that refers to a condition where you have too much body fat, and it is a serious health issue. Many things can cause it, such as genetics, body chemistry, environment, and lifestyle habits. It raises the risk of problems like:

1. Heart disease
2. Diabetes
3. High blood pressure
4. Liver issues
5. Sleep troubles
6. Cancers

It is no doubt concerning, but for your relief, even small weight loss can make a big difference in your health. 

Just like if you eat better, you will be more active, and adopt healthy habits, it will help you a lot. 

What Is Extreme Obesity?

We have a standard way to check if our weight is healthy for our height, as BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It can give you a certain number, and based on that number, you can know if you are underweight, healthy weight, overweight, or obese. 

A healthy Body Mass Index (BMI) is between 18.5 and 25. If your BMI is 40 or more, it means you’re extremely obese. 

A woman who is 5’4″ and weighs 235 pounds has a BMI of about 40. To reach a healthy BMI, she would need to lose around 90 pounds. A 6’2″ man weighing 315 pounds also has a BMI of 40 and would need to lose about 120 pounds. 

BMI helps doctors measure obesity based on height and weight together.

How the Environment Fuels Obesity

What if we tell you that obesity is just a normal reaction to an unhealthy environment? How? Let’s put it in this way: how can you stay active and eat well when you have:

1. Easy access to high-calorie food
2. Poor urban planning
3. Limited green spaces
4. Busy lifestyles 
5. Rising living costs 

This trend can be reversed, and only when there is strong action from governments and society as a whole. Some of these actions include:

1. Better food labeling
2. Taxes on sugary drinks
3. Limits on junk food ads
4. Healthier food policies in schools, hospitals, and public places

3 Simple Ways To Manage Obesity: How To Reverse Obesity

Obesity management is not something that you cannot do at all; it will take time, but in the end, you will see the tree bearing fruit. Here are some ways through which you can manage or reverse your obesity. 

1. Changing The Diet

It is no surprise that having a balanced diet will be the first turning point in lowering your obesity, just like eating a mix of healthy foods like: 

• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Low-fat dairy
• Lean meats
• Proteins
• Whole grains

To accomplish this, you can eat less of unhealthy foods that are high in calories but low in nutrients. These foods will include:

• Fried or heavily processed foods
• Sugary snacks like cakes and cookies
• White bread
• Packaged chips
• Fatty meats

Drinking lots of water will help you a lot, as well as you will feel full, as a result you will overeat. You can also avoid drinks with a lot of sugar and calories, like soda, fruit juice, sports drinks, and alcohol.

Here is a simple tip for eating:

If you want to lose 1 pound a week, you have to cut 500 calories a day. For 2 pounds, you will need to cut 1,000 calories a day.

2. Add Exercise To Your Routine

Exercise maintains weight loss by keeping your muscles strong and also improves your body shape. It also prevents your muscles from getting weaker.

Now, on what factors is fat burned? It is based on the basis of the amount of energy your body burns at rest and how much muscle and fat you have. Do you know that muscle burns more energy than fat? That means having more muscle helps you burn more calories, even when you’re not moving.

If you try to lose weight by only dieting, you may lose muscle along with fat. This can slow down your metabolism. That’s why it’s important to include the right kind of exercise in your weight-loss plan, to keep your muscles and help your body burn more energy.

3. Medication

Medication to lose weight is not advised for everyone; those people with severe obesity may need medication to help them lose weight. These medicines can be helpful, but they can also be expensive and may cause side effects.

The FDA has approved certain medicines for people who are obese, that is, their BMI is 30 or higher, or overweight, having a BMI of 27 or higher. You can only use these medicines along with eating fewer calories, being more active, and changing unhealthy habits. 

Note: Always ask your consultant before you swallow any pills. 

Some examples of these weight-loss medicines are:

• Semaglutide
• Liraglutide
• Tirzepatide
• Orlistat (sold as Xenical with a prescription or as Alli without one)
• Qsymia (a mix of phentermine and topiramate)
• Contrave (a mix of bupropion and naltrexone)
  

The best practice to take these medicines is only with the consultation of a doctor. 

Final Thoughts

Can you reverse obesity? Yes, you can! 

Obesity is not something that can make you powerless. You just need the healthy habits and supportive environments. 

So, are you ready to follow that one magic rule? Starting today, and swapping that one bad habit with a good one.

Let’s turn the tide together.