Being Fat: Old Problem, New Identity

by Youmasu J. Siewe, Ph.D, MPH.

The following article was published in the Stillwater News Press on April 4, 2002.

Health, a Shared Responsibility. Being fat, obese or overweight, long acknowledged by the Medical and Public Health community as a major risk factor for several diseases, has now been classified as a tax-deductible disease by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Obese individuals will however need a doctor’s prescription to get tax credit for obesity treatment.
            You may, or may not be one of the 32.4% of Oklahomans, or 25% of American adults who are obese. Obesity, overweight or being fat is one of the most serious epidemics in the country. Most obese Americans do not desire to be obese but rather find themselves trapped and helpless in this condition, and would love to lose all the extra pounds if they knew how to, and were disciplined to do what it takes to lose the extra pounds.   To ridicule, tease, coax insult or threaten the obese for not losing weight does not help and might even make the individual to eat even more.  Understanding the condition or the disease of obesity is one of the most important ingredients in achieving the goal of loosing extra pounds.  Studies indicate that individuals who have the support of loving spouses, friends or parents, are more likely to succeed in losing weight than those who are humiliated, or those who try to do it alone.
            Obesity is not infectious or transferred from person to person, but can be considered a timed-bomb that requires individual, family as well as community efforts in defusing the bomb. Individuals need to honestly assess their eating behavior, activity levels, and not only blame "genes" for their obese states.  Parents with younger children also need to educate their young or minors about the benefits of proper nutrition to prevent obesity. There is no "magic pill" or electronic device as yet that melts excess body fat while an individuals stretches out on the couch watching television and eating all they can eat.
             
What are the health risks of being obese? Approximately 280,000 adult deaths in the country are attributed to obesity annually, compared to 35,000 deaths due to guns, and 25,000 deaths due to auto accidents, hence the foods we eat by our own selection or choosing kill far more of us than guns and automobiles combined. Overweight individuals have an increase risk of developing one or more of the following conditions: Heart disease and stroke, hypertension, and type-2 diabetes. Bone weakness, sleep apnea and other breathing problems are also common. Others health problems of overweight include cancer of the uterus, cervix, ovary, breast, colon, rectum, and prostate. High blood cholesterol, menstrual irregularities, gall bladder disease, stress incontinence or urine leakage and depression are also associated with obesity. Social problems associated with obesity in America include low self-esteem and less socially desirability.
             
What causes obesity? Genetic as well as environmental factors do contribute to obesity. This article discuses environmental factors or what individuals can do to decrease health risks. Obesity/Overweight results when calories consumed in foods, exceed the calories used-up for energy and other metabolic processes, causing the body to store the unneeded calories in the form of fat, for a "rainy day", or starvation, which hardly happens in America.  

What is the cost of obesity? The National Center for Health Statistics, estimates the direct and indirect annual expenditure on obesity-related problems to be $99.2 billion.
           
 How can obesity be prevention or excess weight reduced? Successful weight reduction must involve: (1) reduce your total intake of calories, particularly animal sources of fats which increase levels of bad cholesterol, and the risk of having a heart attack; (2)  increase calorie-use or expenditure, this is best done by engaging in regular physical activity, such as jogging, walking, biking, swimming, yard work and other forms of aerobic activities. (3) Behavior Modification: these are strategies aimed at improving good nutrition, break the eating-addiction chain, and increase physical activity.  To get the most benefits from physical activity, individuals need to be physically active for 3 or more days per week, and for 30 or more minutes per session.  Where this recommendation is not possible, it is still important to do some activity that goes beyond only “walking from the refrigerator to the couch”.  You are more likely to succeed in not being fat when you involve loved ones in the effort. it’s also tax-deductible now.
Youmasu J. Siewe, Ph.D., MPH, is the State Specialist for Public Health Education, Oklahoma
Cooperative Extension Service at OSU in Stillwater.  For Questions, call (405) 744 6825.  For online access to Extension/Community Health Column, please check “articles” on the web at: http://www.fcs.okstate.edu/health/.