Fact Sheets

Obesity

Obesity is a serious, chronic disease and not a simple condition. Obesity is defined as an excessively high amount of body fat in relation to lean body mass.

Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death following smoking.

Causes of Obesity

Obesity could be a combination of the following:

• The genes you inherited from your parents
• How well your body turns food into energy
• Your eating and exercising habits
• Your surroundings
• Psychological factors

Consequences of Obesity

If you are obese, severely obese, or morbidly obese, you may have:

• Major health risks
• Shorter Life Expectancy
• Compared to people of normal weight, obese people have a 50% to 100% increased risk of dying prematurely
• Obese people have more risk for:
  . Diabetes (type 2)
  . Joint problems (e.g., arthritis)
  . High blood pressure
  . Heart disease
  . Gallbladder problems
  . Certain types of cancer (breast, uterine, colon)
  . Digestive disorders (e.g., gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GORD)
  . Breathing difficulties (e.g., sleep apnoea, asthma)
  . Psychological problems such as depression
  . Problems with fertility
  . Incontinence
• Risks to psychological and social well-being
• Negative self-image
• Social isolation
• Discrimination
• Difficulties with day-to-day living
  . Normal tasks become harder when you are obese, as movement is more difficult
  . You tend to tire more quickly and you find yourself short of breath
  . Public transport seats, telephone booths, and cars may be too small for you.
  . You may find it difficult to maintain personal hygiene

Obesity Management

Diet & Exercises :: Medications :: Surgery

Diet and exercises

Your body weight is regulated by the number of calories you eat and use each day. Everything you eat contains calories, and everything you do uses calories, including sleeping, breathing, and digesting food.

Research consistently shows that regular physical activity, combined with healthy eating habits, is the most efficient and healthful way to control your weight.

Physical activity helps to control your weight by using excess calories that otherwise would be stored as fat. Any physical activities in addition to what you normally do will use extra calories.

Medications

Most available weight-loss medications are "appetite-suppressant" medications.

Appetite-suppressant medications promote weight loss by decreasing appetite or increasing the feeling of being full. These medications decrease appetite by increasing serotonin or catecholamine - two brain chemicals that affect mood and appetite.

Surgery

Surgical options include the following

Adjustable gastric banding.

In this procedure, a hollow band made of special material is placed around the stomach near its upper end, creating a small pouch and a narrow passage into the larger remainder of the stomach. The band is then inflated with a salt solution. It can be tightened or loosened over time to change the size of the passage by increasing or decreasing the amount of salt solution.

Gastric stapling

In this procedure a small stomach pouch is created to restrict food intake. Next, a Y-shaped section of the small intestine is attached to the pouch to allow food to bypass the lower stomach, the duodenum (the first segment of the small intestine), and the first portion of the jejunum (the second segment of the small intestine). This bypass reduces the absorption of nutrients and thereby reduces the calorie intake.

Roux en Y Gastric Bypass

Here a small stomach pouch is created to restrict food intake. Next, a Y-shaped section of the small intestine is attached to the pouch to allow food to bypass the lower stomach, the duodenum (the first segment of the small intestine), and the first portion of the jejunum (the second segment of the small intestine). This bypass reduces the absorption of nutrients and thereby reduces the calorie intake.

Bilio Pancreatic Diversion (BPD)

In this procedure, portions of the stomach are removed. The small pouch that remains is connected directly to the final segment of the small intestine (Ileum), completely bypassing the duodenum and the jejunum (the first and second section of small intestine). Although this procedure successfully promotes weight loss, but could lead to nutritional deficiencies.

Coming soon is in interactive movie on Obesity and its management.