The causes of obesity
For a long time, even now, obesity is treated simplistically, on the principle that you eat more than you consume. You have a higher energy intake than energy consumption, without taking into account the social, family and emotional context and without taking into account personal routines.
Indeed, the main causes of obesity are represented by an increased intake of foods rich in fats and sugars and by physical inactivity regardless of the reason (job that involves sedentary lifestyle, busy schedule that involves prolonged sedentary work, certain routines such as using the car for any travel, etc.), but there are other factors that favor obesity:
- Insufficient sleep
- Genetics (some genes can contribute to the appearance of obesity through the feeling of increased hunger and implicitly the amount of food consumed)
- Certain diseases (Cushing's Syndrome for example) and drugs (steroids and some antidepressants)
- Eating disorders - such as stress eating
- Social factors – the possibility to purchase certain foods, the accessibility of certain products, advertisements and offers.
Obesity is a disease of multifactorial causes, which is precisely why the doctor's skill does not come only from building a plate, but from identifying the cause and then from the personalized approach to the patient . The patient is the only one who decides for his state of health, but the doctor is the one who must provide the correct information and the necessary guidance.
Obesity therapy - diets versus healthy lifestyle
The complex therapy of obesity has nothing to do with diets and losing a number of kg! No connection! And this is where the confusion comes from! The market of nutrition services markets weight loss starting from the principles of the diet and not from the principles of a healthy, individually adapted lifestyle. The obese patient looks at this market and puts the nutritionist, the dietician, the sports instructor, the teas, the pills, the injections... with medical science in the same bucket. Everyone has their role, but the patient with obesity must be treated by a doctor, because obesity is a disease.
Also because of this confusion, people with obesity are not considered sick. When I ask a morbidly obese person in the clinic, what diseases does he know he has, he answers: "I don't have any disease, I want to lose a few kg! ". We are not talking about a few kg ", but about the correct therapy, as we treat any chronic disease.
The effects of obesity
Most of the people with obesity have other severe chronic pathologies, which can endanger their health or even their lives. These are:
- Prediabetes or diabetes
- Cardiovascular diseases - stroke
- High blood pressure
- Dyslipidemia
- Fatty liver (hepatic steatosis)
- Digestive pathologies such as reflux disease
- Chronic rhonhopathy - snoring disease
- Acute or chronic osteoarticular pathologies
- Depressive syndrome
- Anxiety
- Cancer (endometrial, breast, ovarian, prostate, liver, gall bladder, kidney and colon).
In addition to these, it is worth mentioning the low quality of life, emotional imbalances and mental disorders (depression, anxiety), but also the physical pain caused by performing ordinary physical activities, the reduced mobility that affects all aspects of the life of the patient with obesity - from the life of family during the professional course and social interaction.
Obesity calculator (BMI)
Obesity is quantified by BMI - Body Mass Index, and when it is over 40, we are talking about morbid obesity.
This indicator is important, but each patient is approached individually, associating BMI with physical assessment through paraclinical investigations and clinical examination, emotional, postural assessment, sleep quality, food compulsions, individual relationship with food and healthy positioning in the group social.
In fact, the high success rate comes from this in-depth evaluation of each individual patient and the identification of the cause of obesity, physical or emotional, then in supporting the change and correction of the individual relationship with food and not only from the weight loss of a number of kilograms .
We focus too much on food and too little on change! Long-term success comes from changing your relationship with food and adopting healthy routines .
Nutritional intervention must be the first step in the therapy of any chronic disease, and drug therapy must intervene upon the doctor's recommendation. In the case of obesity, reducing the amount of fat decreases peripheral insulin resistance and the risk of diabetes. At the same time, all the pathologies listed above are reversed, many patients giving up drug therapy. This, that is, the "removal" of certain drugs, such as those against hypertension, is done only by a medical specialist.
Most of the factors involved in the appearance of obesity are reversible, they can be corrected or removed with the right medical support. Choose to make a change for the better for your long-term health.
