The Obesity Pandemic

Obesity is a serious health problem in North America and several European countries. Recently over half of the total population living in the United States is believed to be having either overweigt or obesity. Rate of occurence of obesity continue to increase in both males and females. Among all American women twenty years and older, about 64 million can be considered as overweight and more than 34 million could be considered as obese.

Excessive weight is linked to significant health hazards and increase death rates. Overweight individuals are more suseptible to suffer from coronory artary disease, diabetes, hypertension, cerebrovascular events and a veriety of other medical conditions. It is imperative that we all eat healhy food and routinely maintain a program of physical activity througout our life. To control weight and keep it off over time, try making long-term modifications in your dietery and physical activity habits.

Estimating the exact amount of a person's body fat level is not easy. Most accurate ways to measure the amount of body fat include weighing a person underwater or inside a chamber that uses the principle of air displacement to estimate body volume, or to use an X-ray technique called DEXA. Mesaurements of body fat content need not be so complex. There are simpler methods available to estimate fat content of the body. One such method is to measure the thickness of the fat layer just under the skin in various parts of the body. Another method involves passing a small amount of electricity through a person's body to measure conductivity. Results obtained from these methods, can however be, less than accurate particularly if done by an inexperienced person or on someone with high level of obesity.

Since measuring body fat is cumbersome, physicians and other health care workers often use other methods to diagnose obesity. These mesaurements include weight for height charts, and body mass index estimations. These measure are good estimates of a person's body fat content even though less accurate than tests that use direct measurements of body fat content.

Posted by: Sean