What is obesity?
Obesity is a chronic disease characterized by excess fat accumulated in the body. It results from an imbalance between the calories ingested through food and the amount of calories expended with physical exercise or daily activities.
That is, when a positive energy balance persists for a long period, weight increases and obesity develops. A healthy eating and regular physical activity help maintain a healthy weight.
This disease is a public health problem, both in Portugal and in the world, and represents an important risk factor for the development and worsening of other chronic diseases.
What are the causes of obesity?
Obesity is a multifactorial disease, which can have behavioral, genetic, environmental causes or be caused by the interaction of all of them. However, the main factors are associated with:
- Poor quality/unhealthy food
- increased sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity
- Too little sleep or not getting restful sleep
What are the risk factors for the disease?
Obesity tends to be more common in the face of a sedentary lifestyle and the practice of an inadequate diet, rich in fats and sugars and low in fruit and vegetables.
In addition, factors such as:
- genetics, due to family predisposition
- social determinants (conditions in which we live, learn and work)
- smoking cessation, by replacing tobacco use with food
- diseases, such as Cushing's disease (hormonal disorder), which leads to weight gain
- taking some medications, such as corticosteroids or antidepressants
- pregnancy
How is obesity diagnosed?
The diagnosis of obesity is usually measured and classified through two important indices: calculation of the Body Mass Index (BMI), obtained by dividing weight by the square of height (BMI = Weight (Kg) / Height2 (m)), and abdominal circumference (BP), by editing the waist centimeters.
Are there different types of obesity?
yes. The need to characterise and classify obesity has to do with the fact that obese individuals differ from each other in three respects:
- Amount of fat they store
- Distribution of fat in the body
- body composition (for the same ratio between weight and height, different proportions of fat mass and lean mass (muscle, bone and water) can be observed between individuals)
Based on the results of the Body Mass Index and waist circumference, the following classifications are assigned for adults:
- Low weight: ≤ 18.5 kg/m2
- Normal Weight: 18.5 > 24.9
- Overweight: = 25 > 29.9
- Obesity: > 30
- Obesity class 1: 30 > 34.9
- Obesity class 2: 35 > 39.9
- Obesity class 3: > 40 (severe obesity)
In the personal area of the SNS 24 portal you can now calculate and record your Body Mass Index.
What can I do to reduce weight?
If you want to reduce your weight, you should do so with medical advice, so that this goal is achieved in a healthy and balanced way and so that it can be maintained over time.
The main risk factors to combat are a sedentary lifestyle and inadequate diet. Therefore, it is important to analyze their lifestyles and change them, if necessary, through:
- Adoption of healthy eating habits:
- Calorie intake less than the number of calories expended in daily activity
- Maintain regular meal patterns, with breakdown of meals throughout the day
- chew the food slowly and savor the food
- Avoid doing other activities while eating, for example watching TV
- Drink water throughout the day and avoid sugary drinks
- Regular physical activity: choose an activity that gives you pleasure and include it in your routine, preferably daily
What are the health benefits of intentional weight loss for people with obesity?
The benefits of intentional weight loss in people with obesity are essentially long-term and essentially reflect:
- Improved quality of life in general
- Improvement of other diseases
- decreased risk of mortality
In addition, there is a trend towards improved energy levels, self-esteem and physical mobility and independence, and a reduction in physical pain (such as osteoarticular pain) and the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases.
What are the main complications of obesity?
In adults, obesity is a disease that is associated with the development of:
- respiratory diseases – obstructive sleep apnea; increased complications associated with viral infections such as influenza and COVID19
- Type 2 diabetes
- cardiovascular diseases – Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA); heart failure; increased cholesterol and triglycerides (dyslipidemia); hypertension, atrial fibrillation, venous thrombosis
- fatty liver (fatty liver)
- Kidney disease: chronic kidney disease, kidney stones (kidney stones), urinary incontinence
- Gastrointestinal disorders: reflux, oesophagitis
- infertility
- Musculoskeletal disorders: osteoarthritis and gout
- Oncological diseases – development of cancer, e.g. breast, colorectal or pancreas, among others
- psychological and neurodegenerative changes – anxiety; depression; low self-esteem; dementia
Is obesity curable?
Yes, obesity can be controlled and treatable, although it requires an approach focused on the different risk factors.
What is the treatment for obesity?
The treatment of obesity requires changing eating habits and behaviors, such as the adoption of a healthy eating and patterns in meal times and the practice of regular physical exercise.
Depending on the stage of development of the disease, treatment may also involve:
- taking medication
- endoscopic procedures (e.g., intragastric balloon)
- surgery (e.g., gastric banding)
- medical advice (e.g., psychiatrist, endocrinologist)
Source: Directorate-General for Health (DGS)