Obesity is perhaps one of the most important public health problems of our time, and it is rapidly increasing worldwide. According to the latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 700 million people living with obesity globally. The number of people who are overweight exceeds 2 billion. According to a recent study published in The Lancet, there are 250 million children with obesity worldwide, and 45 million of them are under the age of 5. The World Health Organization estimates that if this trend continues, by 2047 one out of every four people worldwide will be living with obesity. The situation in our country is not very different. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, the obesity rate among adults is 30% in both sexes and continues to rise.
Obesity seriously threatens public health and behaves almost like an epidemic. Fighting obesity is perhaps one of humanity’s top priorities today.
Causes of Obesity
Obesity is a highly complex disease with genetic foundations. On a genetic background, many factors such as hormonal, metabolic, psychological, cultural, and behavioral influences can contribute to obesity. The main causes of obesity include:
- Hormonal conditions
- Side effects of certain treatments and medications
- Leading a sedentary lifestyle
- Insufficient breastfeeding
- Irregular eating habits
- Having multiple births at short intervals
- Psychological problems
- Underactive thyroid gland
- Hereditary factors
Although there are countless factors that affect obesity, the basic logic is this: if the calories you consume from food are greater than the calories you burn, you will gain weight over time. As you gain weight, many hormonal and metabolic changes occur in the body. For example, hunger-triggering hormones may become more active, which can increase how often you eat and the size of your portions.
Many other factors that influence energy balance and metabolism can also trigger obesity. Examples include sleep disorders, stress, certain medications, etc. As more fat accumulates in the body, metabolism slows down even further. After a certain point, this becomes a vicious cycle.
Factors such as irregular eating, consuming fast-food style meals, and not exercising regularly have a major impact among the causes of obesity.
Why Don’t We Eat to Live, But Live to Eat?
Thirty thousand years ago, our ancestors had access to only one sweet food: unripe fruit. The smartest thing a Stone Age person could do upon seeing a fig tree full of fruit was to eat as much as possible—until a troop of baboons took over the tree. This is why overeating high-calorie foods is hardwired into our genes. Today, we may live comfortably in multi-story apartments with refrigerators full to the brim, but our DNA still thinks it is living in scarcity. It “believes” that one day we will be hungry, so it should store energy.
Symptoms of Obesity
What is commonly referred to as being “overweight” is called obesity in medical terms. One of the most important symptoms of obesity is a significant increase in body fat.
Fat stored in the body affects not only appearance but also a person’s health status to a significant degree. The accumulation of this fat leads to obesity.
- Snoring
- Sleep apnea
- Excessive sweating
- Shortness of breath during activity
- Joint pain
- Fatty liver
are also among the symptoms of obesity.
The most commonly used measure to define and classify obesity is the concept known as body mass index (BMI). Studies have shown that BMI is a parameter that reflects body fat fairly well. If you know your height and weight, you can easily calculate your BMI. If you divide your weight by your height in meters squared, the result is your body mass index.
Weight (Your Weight)
BODY MASS INDEX = —————————————
(BMI) Height (meters) x Height (meters)
World Health Organization (WHO) obesity classification by BMI
| Body Mass Index | |
| 20-25 | Normal |
| 25-30 | Overweight |
| 30-35 | Obese |
| 35-40 | Severely obese |
| 40 and above | Morbidly obese |
