The idea of obesity in human minds is just limited to clothes being too tight or the body appearing to be too fat. It isn’t just about an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended, though it is the fundamental cause. The stretch of obesity is, however, far more complex than just being the synonym for overweight. It is a medical condition with serious social and psychological dimensions and accounts to more death globally than underweight.
Obesity is defined as the excessive accumulation of fat in the body that may risk normal bodily functions and increase health concerns. A body mass index (BMI), that is calculated by dividing weight (in kgs) by height (in mtrs) squared, of above 25 is considered as overweight and above 30 is considered obese. Recently, data has been suggesting that there is growing prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents between the age of 5 to 19 years. Once considered a problem only in high-income countries, overweight and obesity have now grown into epidemic proportions.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2016, about 1.9 billion people worldwide, aged from 18 years and above, were overweight, among which 650 million were obese, and over 340 million children and adolescents between the age of 5 to 19 were overweight or obese. In 2019, around 38.2 million children below the age of 5 were overweight or obese, which grew to 39 million in 2020. Raised BMI leading to obesity causes a major risk for serious diet-related diseases, including diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis, which is a highly degenerative disease of the joints), and some cancers. The health risks vary from increased risk of premature death to serious chronic conditions that reduce the overall quality of life.
It has been observed that globally there has been an increased intake of food with high energy density. Food that are high in fat and sugars have observed increased consumption, and reduced physical activity due to the increasingly sedentary nature of work forms, changing modes of transportation, and increasing urbanization. Variations of dietary and physical activities are often the impact of environmental and societal changes associated with development and lack of sensitive policies in sectors such as health, food processing, environment, agriculture, urban planning, transport, distribution, marketing, and education. Stress eating is also a relative concern. A person’s mental restraint could increase impulsive eating behaviour and emotional eating is often used to relieve negative feelings.
Obesity in children lead to higher risk of obesity, premature death and disability in their adulthood. Further, in addition to increased future risks, obese children experience breathing difficulties, hypertension, early markers of cardiovascular disease, increased risk of fractures, insulin resistance, and psychological effects.
Many low-income and middle-income nations are now facing a double burden of malnutrition. While they continue to deal with infectious diseases and undernutrition, they have also been experiencing a rapid upsurge in non-communicable disease risk factors like overweight and obesity, particularly in urban areas. Children in these countries are more endangered to inadequate pre-natal, infant, and young child nutrition.
At the same time, these children are exposed to energy-dense, high-fat, high-sugar, high-salt and poor nutrient food, which can be inclined to low cost but also low in nutrient quality. These dietary systems, in combination with lower levels of physical activity, result in increase in childhood obesity while undernutrition issues remain unresolved. The cure to obesity is undefined, but it is preventable and treatable. Proper dietary habits and increased physical activity are the best option for preventing overweight or obesity.
However, anti-obesity medications are often prescribed to help people who have health issues related to obesity or overweight. Health care professionals decide the need and benefit of drugs for obese people regulating their BMI. The development of health disorders with increase in obesity cases that require significant medical attention has been driving the anti-obesity drugs market. Today there are more obese people worldwide than underweight. The global anti-obesity drugs market at the rate of 21% through 2027.
The drugs can affect the way the brain interacts with the environment and body’s weight set point. However, health care professionals who suggest medications, guide the treatment methods along with dietary patterns and physical activities. It is expected that better tolerated anti-obesity drugs will be developed with better understanding of the mechanisms and physiological complexes of obesity.
