What is Overweight Potential?

Overweight and obesity are defined as body mass indices (BMI) >25 and >30, respectively. A person's body weight is determined by the sum of energy intake and energy expenditure. An imbalance between total energy intake and expenditure results in body weight changes. One of the outcomes of this imbalance is obesity, a major global health problem, with 500 million obese individuals worldwide. Obesity can be defined as having an unhealthy excess amount of body fat. In today’s modern era, economic growth, industrialization, mechanized transport, urbanization, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, and a nutritional transition to processed foods and high-calorie diets have drastically increased the prevalence of obesity both among children and adults. Although environmental factors, such as minimal physical activity and overeating, have driven the rise in the numbers of people who are overweight or obese, genetic factors are estimated to contribute for 40-90% of the population variation in BMI. Every individual has different genetic susceptibility to obesity, and the response of an individual to lifestyle modification in regulating the body weight is also subjected to genetic influence. Usually, these genes code for proteins involved in the regulation of appetite and food intake. Therefore, managing an ideal body weight is an important part of staying healthy.

How It Affects Your Body

Obesity is a significant health concern as it predisposes individuals to several health issues including hypertension, coronary heart disease, type II diabetes, stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis.

Overweight also reduces the quality of life and shortens life expectancy. Apart from that, overweight and obesity may also lead to poor sleep quality and depression.

Signs