Obesity: The Global Epidemic

Obesity is turning into a global epidemic and it is changing our world. At the moment, nothing is being done to stop it and if nothing is done the obese population will quickly rise, leading to more serious consequences. For some statistics, in 1995, there were an estimated 220 million obese people. Just to prove that it is a serious, growing epidemic, in the year 2000, in just 5 years the obese population had risen by almost 100 million people.

Obesity refers to an excess amount of body fat, caused by psychological factors and a lack of exercise, and many other reasons, including genetics, family habits, and lifestyle factors. To be considered obese, a person has to have approximately 15%-20% more body fat than the average amount for their age and height. Another common reason to get to an obese size is more common in women, but depression and other psychological factors can lead to strange eating habits.

Body Fat meter

obesity

Obesity Infographic from LA-Bariatrics

Finally, the most obvious reason is a complete lack of physical exercise. Exercising prevent the excess carbohydrates that are not going to be used by the body from being stored as fat.

There are many different effects of obesity, including an increase in depression around the world, bullying in school areas, and the obese people unable to work. Depression around the world, as said before is more common in women. Obese women usually lack self-esteem because they don't have the prefect, supermodel body. This makes them extremely self-conscious, resulting in depression. Just like obesity, depression has also risen around the world. Bullying is something that happens everyday in schools. A main target that the bullies target are the overweight children. They are picked on because they look different and cannot participate in all of the activities the other children do.