Home > Health > The Obesity Epidemic

Obesity: Risks, Prevention and Solutions

Obesity, a condition marked by an excess amount of body fat, is a growing problem in this country. In fact, cases of obesity have quadrupled in the last 25 years. While obesity was often viewed as a mental disorder in the past, current studies are finding no link between weight and any mental health condition. Consequently, medical professionals are starting to assert that obesity is a response to social conditions.

Risk Factors for Obesity
Although social factors have been cited as a trigger for obesity, some genetic factors may also put people at higher risk for obesity. For example, obesity does tend to run in families. In rare cases, medications or conditions can cause obesity. However, these are highly uncommon.

Obesity has also been correlated with socioeconomic status and family income. Studies indicate that lower income families suffer from obesity at higher rates than middle-class and upper class households. This may be due to the fact that fast food is cheap and easily accessible.

Obesity Causes
Most often, obesity (especially in children) is caused by a variety of factors that are becoming the norm in this country. Some problematic shifts include:

• the availability of cheap, unhealthy food, especially in vending machines on school campuses
• the increase in the amount of time spent watching television or playing video games
• parental influence (This can apply to parents who aid lazy or unhealthy behaviors, or parents who simply set a bad example or ignore the problem at hand.)
• reduction in the amount of time spent on physical activity.

Effects of Obesity
Ignoring or not taking steps to prevent childhood obesity can lead to serious physical and emotional problems. Obesity puts children at risk for many diseases, including diabetes, arthritis and cardiovascular disease. In extreme cases, obesity has been linked to cancer, sleeping problems, depression and joint disorders.

Obesity can have an effect on socialization and self-esteem, as well. The longer children are obese, the more lasting the effects and the more severe the resulting problems. Children who are obese are far more likely to be obese as adults. Their eating and exercise habits must be changed early on to combat the perpetuation of this unhealthy state.

Fighting Obesity
The most effective way to battle obesity is to use a combination of efforts. While diet and exercise changes are vital, joining support groups or programs composed of people similar in age to you creates a solid support system that can keep you disciplined and on track to losing weight. Involving a physician to create a diet plan can also help.

There are many campaigns, both local and national, that are beginning to work against factors that promote obesity. While some schools have plans to fill vending machines with healthier snacks, some communities are starting to hold fitness competitions to get people more active. These efforts are all designed to encourage healthier habits.

Monitoring progress and changing habits gradually are essential to fighting obesity. Because there is no quick fix to the obesity epidemic, each person suffering from it has to work hard to battle against it.

Medicines and Gastric Lap Band Surgery
Although medicines do exist to aid weight loss, many have side effects that can be difficult to endure. In fact, some decrease in effectiveness after a short time.

Gastric lap band surgery is a medical alternative to medication and natural weight loss methods that offers a drastic way to limit food intake. The procedure creates a "new," smaller stomach by placing an inflatable band around part of the stomach to make a small pouch, making it easier for the person to eat less and lose weight. Attached to the band is a tube that ends with a port, which allows doctors to add saline to the band, slowly filling it and causing increased restriction of the stomach.

The operation generally lasts under an hour. Some benefits include:

• Adjustments can be made after surgery to adhere to the patient's needs.
• The procedure is reversible.
• There is no cutting or stapling of the stomach involved.

However, if you're thinking this solution sounds like an easy way out, think again. The diet and rules to follow after surgery can be life-altering. For a few days after surgery, only clear liquid may be ingested, and no caffeine can be consumed for three months. For about a month and a half, a person has to adhere to a liquid-only diet, consuming only small amounts every hour.

After the liquid-only period, patients transition to eating food that has been shredded. Bread and other starches are not included at all in the Lap-Band diet. Every bit has to count, because the stomach will only hold small amounts, making it very easy for a person to become deficient in protein or other necessary dietary components.

Taking small bites and eating very slowly are also important after someone has undergone lap band surgery. Some foods may never react well with a Lap-Band patient. Foods that are hard to digest and that lap-band patients should avoid include:

• any fruit seeds or skins 
• fried food 
• hamburgers
• high-fiber foods 
• oranges 
• spicy food 
• tough meats.

Patients also can't take pills larger than aspirin tablets. Due to all of the restrictions and requirements involved, lap-band surgery should not be taken lightly. When possible, lessening obesity by your own actions is far superior and will cause much less burden.

Other Obesity Solutions
Less drastic means of lessening obesity include:

• avoiding temptations, such as fast food
• eating slowly 
• exercising
• joining a support group
• limiting time in front of the television 
• preparing your own food
• restricting amounts and types of foods that are fatty or sugary
• substituting healthy snacks for those high is sugar or empty calories 
• walking instead of driving short distances.

Any or all of these methods can be effective. The longer obesity persists, the more health issues will arise, making it more difficult to combat obesity in the future.