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WEIGHT
of your Health
What is obesity?
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What is obesity? 1 Obesity is basically carrying too much fat on your body for
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someone of your height. This is particularly important if the
How does obesity occur? 1
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fat is around your upper body, chest and waist, because it
can lead to many health risks, including heart disease and
How common is obesity? 1
diabetes. Obesity has become a global problem and is the
How is obesity measured? 2 fastest growing medical condition in recent times.
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Obesity and life expectancy 3
Obesity and illness 4 How does obesity occur?
Will losing weight help prevent ● The food we eat gives us energy, in the form of calories,
or improve these illnesses? 5 which allows our bodies to function properly from
day to day.
What is the first step? 5
● The energy we take in must be equal to the energy we
What are the next steps? 6 use, otherwise we put on weight.
Physical activity and exercise 7 ● The excess calories not used up – through our daily
activities and exercise – are stored as fat by the body.
Medical options 9
● To avoid excess fat storage in the body, the right balance
Useful websites 10 needs to be achieved between energy input and output
– in other words, the calories we take in as food must
equal those we expend in exercise and other activities.
1
The Weight of your Health
A guide to health implications
for overweight or obese individuals
● Waist circumference
How is obesity measured? The circumference of your waist is another important
way of measuring your weight. Some people, particularly
Obesity can be measured in two ways: by body mass index men, may have excess fat deposits in the upper body,
(BMI) and by waist circumference. around the chest, stomach and waist areas. This carries
increased risks of heart disease, diabetes
and cancer. To determine if you have
● Body Mass Index (BMI) excess fat in your upper body, place
Body Mass Index (BMI) is calculated by dividing your a tape measure around your waist,
weight by your height. An easier way to find out your level with the uppermost part of
BMI is to use the chart below, which is given in metric the hipbone.
(kilograms for weight and meters for height) and
imperial (stones/pounds for weight and feet/inches ● For men, a waist measurement
for height) measurements, depending on which of more than 37 inches (94cm)
you use. As an example, say you are 5ft 7in tall is a health concern.
and weigh 15 stone (95kg), see where the two lines ● For women, a waist
intersect and the coloured area will tell you your measurement
state of weight. In this example, the person of more than
is ‘obese’. Say you are 5ft 11in tall and weight 31.5 inches (80cm)
14 stone (89kg), you are in the ‘overweight’ area. is a health concern.
But say you are 5ft 7in tall and weigh 10 stone
(63.5kg), you are in the ‘normal’ or healthy
weight range.
Weight
(kilograms)
Height
5’3 1.6
● For a woman aged 40 who is obese and does not smoke,
life is shortened by 7.1 years. If she smokes, 7.2 years
are cut off her life.
4’11 1.5
6.3 7.9 9.5 11.0 12.6 14.2 15.8 17.3 18.9 20.5 22.1 23.6 25.2
Weight
(stones and pounds)
2 3
The Weight of your Health
A guide to health implications
for overweight or obese individuals
4 5
The Weight of your Health
A guide to health implications
for overweight or obese individuals
Surgery
Weight loss surgery is regarded as a very last resort in the
treatment for obesity, when diet, exercise and medication
have not worked. Like any form of surgery, it carries its own
set of risks. There are three main types of surgery:
● Gastric banding: This involves reducing the volume of
the stomach so that you get the feeling of being full with
a smaller quantity of food. The result is that you eat
less and this reduces calorie intake, thus leading to a
reduction in weight. Gastric banding is reversible.
● Gastric bypass surgery: This involves shortening the
bowel. The food we eat first goes to the stomach and then
on to the bowel, where nutrients are extracted. If the
bowel is shortened, then it leaves less area for nutrients
to be absorbed and thus less weight is gained.
● Liposuction: This involves an operation to physically
remove fat from various parts of the body. It is not a
weight loss method and weight will be regained if diet
and exercise are not controlled.
8 9
The Weight of your Health
The
Some useful websites for
further information on obesity:
WEIGHT
of your Health
Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute, www.indi.ie
World Health Organization, www.who.int/en
Weightwatchers, www.weightwatchers.ie
Obesity Ireland, www.obesityireland.ie
A guide to health implications for
Change for life, www.changeforlife.ie
overweight or obese individuals
Operation Transformation, www.rte.ie/ot
Kindly supported by
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland